The Unexpected Things
by PreRaphaelites
Summary: Kala Dandekar is desperate to get rid of a persistent suitor: so desperate that she pretends to have a boyfriend. Guess who. A Kalagang fake-dating AU that is not as light as it sounds.
1. A Simple Lie

Kala slips inside the small restaurant and peeks through the glass of the revolving door.

Not a block away, stopped impatiently at the crosswalk, is her colleague, Lukas. He seems to scan the row of closed shops that line this side of the street before his eyes pause thoughtfully at the restaurant. Kala ducks quickly out of sight although she doubts he can see inside.

_Dammit._

She almost made it through the entire week without interacting with him. But tonight as she was leaving the building, she heard him call her name, and her stomach knotted. Every muscle in her body mutinied against her ingrained politeness.

Kala pretended not to hear, glanced at her phone as if checking a message, her steps quickening.

She should have known better than to think Lukas wouldn't follow her. Kala gives a frustrated huff.

Instead of waiting at the bus stop where he would surely catch her, she turned down another street in an effort to lose him, finally seeking refuge in the small eatery.

Kala scans the thinly-crowded floor. Her eyes rest on a man sitting at a corner table for two, distractedly pushing aside an empty plate that a server swoops to recover. The man says something to the server, making her laugh before she leaves a bill. He hunches casually forward in his seat, head down, probably surfing his phone. The man is angled with his back to her, but he's dressed neatly in dark jeans and a black jacket. More importantly, she only sees a single glass at the table. He's alone.

Kala takes a deep breath and walks over before she can reconsider.

"_Hallo_," she says breathlessly. She takes the vacant seat across from him, heart racing at her boldness.

The man looks up, startled, blue eyes wide with surprise. The man is around her age, decent-looking: His face is long, capped by dark-blond hair; his eyes are kind. A furtive glance at his hands shows no wedding ring.

"_Hallo_?" he repeats, confused, fingers paused mid-message on a cell phone. There's a flicker of interest in his gaze that's belied by wariness.

"I'm sorry to bother you." Kala shakes her head at the approaching server, casts a nervous glance at the revolving door. "But do you think you can pretend that you know me? That we're friends? I have a co-worker… He's coming here…" She trails off in dismay, realizing how crazy she must sound to this stranger whose eyes have grown even wider before his brows suddenly snap together.

"Is someone bothering you?" he asks, his tone grim. "Do you need me to call the police?"

Kala shakes her head, alarmed. "Oh no!" she says. "It's not like that." The man looks at her with a slight frown and she wilts a little under his sharp gaze. "I mean, he's just persistent. And I think he doesn't believe me that I have a, um, a _friend._" She can feel her face grow bright red at the attentive look the stranger gives her. "I think he followed me here." She forces herself to meet his eyes, despite how embarrassed she feels. "But I think if he sees me with someone, he'll finally believe me. And I was hoping when I saw you... Could you please pretend that you're with me? That we're -"

"Together?" he asks. He doesn't seem shocked or offended; he merely looks concerned. "Guy's that much of an ass?" he asks. Kala stares back, unsure how to answer, but the man shrugs. "If you think it will work, I guess. I'll help you get rid of him."

"Thank you!" She almost sobs in relief. "I'm Kala," she says, but movement at the front of the restaurant catches her attention; she blanches. "He's here," she says faintly.

"Yeah?" The man doesn't bother to turn around. He sets his phone down, covers her fidgeting hands with his own. The steady warmth of them settles her nerves a little as she concentrates on focusing her attention to his face, to look relaxed. "It's ok," he tells her. "Don't you worry. I'm gonna act like the fuckingest jealous boyfriend you could want." He gives a confident smirk. "He's gonna think I'm crazy and leave you alone. You'll see."

She nods at that, reassured by the certainty in his voice. "Okay," she says, breathing again. "_Gut_. _Danke_."

"Kala?"

She is almost startled to see Lukas just steps away from the table, stopping just behind her "boyfriend".

Lukas Fischer is not a particularly large man, although he is tall, visibly fit. But if Kala is honest, there is something about him that makes her uneasy, even though Lukas has been nothing but friendly since she was transferred to Berlin three months ago. She was even grateful the first week or two, having moved alone from Hannover. But then his attention became more demanding, his kindness almost suffocating.

Kala's fingers tremble a little, but her "boyfriend" gives them a final encouraging squeeze. She meets his confident eyes and relaxes as he releases her hands, settles back into his seat. She manages to look unconcerned. "Lukas?" she says, as if surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Lukas looks nonplussed, eyes darting between her and the man she sits with. "I tried to catch you before you left." He gives a huff, eyes boring into the back of her companion's head.

Kala's fake boyfriend quirks his eyebrow at the first sound of Lukas' voice. He gives Kala an odd look as he turns around. "Lukas Fischer," he says. "You know Kala?"

Lukas turns a shade of red, his gaze wary. "Jesus," he mutters, body tensing. "Felix. I thought it was you. What are you doing here?"

"Meeting Kala after work," says Felix, eyebrows raised. "What are _you _doing here?"

Kala's eyes widen. There's a palpable current of dislike between her colleague and the man at the table. _Felix _she repeats to herself: His name is Felix. "You know each other?" she asks nervously. Of all the people in Berlin to be her fake boyfriend, she manages to pick someone that Lukas knows.

"Yeah," answers Felix amiably, but the smile he gives Lukas fails to meet his eyes. Felix doesn't elaborate.

Lukas looks equally reluctant to explain, choosing instead to turn his attention back to Kala. "I tried to catch you after work," he tells her again, "but you left a little earlier than normal. I'm just glad I saw you as you were leaving." He smiles at her through gritted teeth, clearly annoyed by Felix's presence. "I'm not in the office tomorrow, but I'm having a little party at my home Saturday night. I want you to come, if you can make it."

"Oh?" Kala shoots Felix a quick glance. "I'm not sure…" _Now would be the time to act like a jealous boyfriend. _She catches her lower lip between her teeth. "I mean," she stammers uncertainly.

Lukas looks from her to Felix and his expression turns insultingly dismissive. "Oh," he says, eyebrows raised. "Are you two a _couple_?" He says the word with an incredulity that causes Kala to frown, defensive. She looks at Felix, but his friendly expression doesn't change. A flicker of unholy amusement crosses his face.

"Us?" asks Felix with the same note of surprise in his voice. Kala stares at him, her expression carefully neutral. "Nah. We're just friends." Lukas relaxes for just a heartbeat before Felix adds: "She's _Wolfgang's _girlfriend."

Kala tries hard not to look shocked by the unexpected announcement. Lukas looks visibly pale.

"Wolfgang?" Lukas repeats.

Felix nods. "Yes," he says slowly, as if articulating to a child. "Kala is Wolfgang's girlfriend."

"Is this true?" Lukas turns an accusatory glare at Kala.

Kala doesn't know why her eyes stare back at Lukas Fischer gravely, why her head nods in agreement with Felix as if she's always lied with ease.

"I'll let Wolfgang know," continues Felix, deliberately oblivious to the shock he's caused. "Thanks for the invite. I'm sure Wolfgang will like to go; he hasn't been to your place in years. What's the occasion?"

Lukas stares hard at Felix, caught. "Just. A small get-together." He looks at Kala, and something in her expression must have reassured him because he recovers some of his earlier swagger. "I'll look forward to seeing you there, then," he says.

Kala's chin tilts up. "With Wolfgang," she adds. The swagger visibly slips from Lukas again. He nods in agreement, takes his leave quickly.

Felix watches him go with unrestrained glee, finally breaking into a triumphant laugh once Lukas is outside. "_With Wolfgang_!" he repeats, chuckling. His eyes flash approvingly at her. "Classic!"

Kala shakes her head, stares at Felix, aghast. "What did you do? What did _I _do?" she demands."What was that all about? Oh my god." She slides back in her seat, horrified by the turn of events, by her complicity in the elaboration of what should have been just a simple lie. "Why didn't you just agree that we're a couple?"

Felix shrugs, unperturbed. He leans forward, fixes her with his earnest blue eyes. "Look," he tells her, "you work with Lukas Fischer? I've known him for years. Since we were kids. And he's an asshole. A bully." Felix frowns slightly. "He might even be worse than that. And he wouldn't be put off by some fake boyfriend; maybe not even by a regular _real _boyfriend. I mean, _maybe _he'd think twice going after you if he thinks you're my girlfriend. But he'll leave you alone for sure if you're Wolfie's."

Kala hides her face with her hands. "Oh my god," she murmurs. "Who is Wolfie? Why would Lukas be afraid of him?"

"Oh." Felix shrugs. "They've got an understanding." As with everything else about Lukas Fischer, Felix chooses not to elaborate. Kala uncovers her face to stare at him. He merely grins. "Trust me," he says. "This is the best coincidence, that I happen to know the asshole who harasses you. He's shit. I bet you that there's no real party. That you would have gone to his place on Saturday and it's a party for _two. _I know you thought that too. Don't deny it. I can tell from your face."

Kala flushes. "Ok," she agrees grimly. "But that's why I wouldn't have gone."

Felix smiles. "Well now Fischer's gonna have to throw a party, just in case you go and show up with Wolfgang." He chuckles at the thought, gives a sigh of satisfaction at the inconvenience he's sure he's caused Fischer.

Kala lays her hands on top of the table. "Do you think he believes it? That I'm Wolfie's girlfriend?"

Felix considers. "Maybe? I'm not sure," he admits. "I mean, Wolfie doesn't really -" Felix seems to search for the appropriate term. "He doesn't really do relationships. But that's why it's a big deal that Fischer lays off."

"Oh." Kala takes a calming breath. "Then I guess it's good you told him I'm with your friend. At least Lukas will leave me alone for a bit." It's clear to her now that she needs to do something about Lukas Fischer: He's no longer just a nuisance to avoid at work; a colleague interested in her romantically, even though she's turned down his advances on two memorable occasions already. He has been getting more aggressive in his pursuit the last few weeks - hence the lie about already having a boyfriend. Kala frowns, still shocked that he followed her into this restaurant.

At least this new lie should buy her some time to think of how to deal with him, even if it means reporting him at work. At her new job. Where he's worked for years.

Kala shakes her head again, aware that she's taken up too much of this stranger's time. She eyes Felix apologetically. "Thank you for helping me," she says, pulling her chair away from the table. "I appreciate it, even if it wasn't quite what I expected. You've been more than kind."

Felix looks surprised. "What about Saturday?" he asks.

"Saturday?" Kala quirks an eyebrow at him. "I'm not going, of course. I told you."

Felix shakes his head. "Fischer's not really convinced you're dating Wolfgang." Felix frowns a little. "I think you need to go. Just to prove it. Go with Wolfgang."

Kala feels sure she's gone pale. "I don't think that's necessary," she demurs. "I can make up an excuse. You don't need to ask your friend to go."

Felix shakes his head. "I _know _he'd do it. They don't like each other, yeah?" He sees the hesitation on her face, shrugs slightly. "Look," he tells her. "Obviously you don't have to do anything you're not cool with. If you're worried going to a party with a guy you don't know, I get it. I mean, you gotta watch out for yourself, although I'm telling you Wolfie is a gentleman. You can meet him before, somewhere you feel safe. I mean, if you'd rather not go to this party, and just deal with Fischer some other way, that's cool too. I'm just offering cause it seems to me that Fischer's not just gonna disappear."

She is tempted. She is _so _tempted. Kala thinks of all the subtle and not subtle ways in the last few weeks that she's adjusted her routine to avoid Lukas: lunch at odd hours or not at all; starting earlier or leaving later, and always preferring to do so with someone else so she's not left awkwardly talking to him alone, dreading the inevitable press for a date because surely she didn't mean "no" the last two times either.

"If you think your friend will do it," she finds herself saying.

Felix grins widely. "I'm sure he will," he says. "You wanna meet him here tomorrow maybe? After work? You should probably get to know each other a bare minimum before showing up at the party."

"Of course," she says weakly.

"Great." He smiles, confident. "I'll tell Wolfgang. He'll be glad to help."

"Wolfgang." Kala says the name carefully, as if trying to commit it to memory.

"Yeah. Wolfgang Bogdanow." Felix takes a pen from the inside of his coat, grabs his napkin. He writes carefully, passing her the napkin when he's done: _Wolfgang Bogdanow _is written in neat print. Underneath it, _ Felix Berner _with a phone number.

"If you need to reach me before then, or you change your mind, you can call or message me," he says.

"Thank you." Kala nods, still uncertain.

Felix smiles reassuringly. "I won't be offended if you change your mind," he says. "I come here a lot anyway."

Kala puts the napkin in her purse. She gives a faint exhale before she stands. "Thank you again," she says, extending her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Felix."

He nods, shakes her hand firmly. "Nice meeting you, too," he says.

Kala leaves the restaurant cautiously, half expecting Lukas around the corner. She frowns at her own paranoia, walks to the nearest bus stop with deliberate bravado. As she waits, she takes the napkin out of her purse, stares at the names and the number written in black. She's not sure just how **desperate** she is to avoid Lukas Fischer; she wonders why she is even considering the suggestion of a complete stranger. Except maybe she _is _that desperate to avoid Lukas Fischer.

She stares at the napkin a long time. She puts it back in her purse when the bus arrives.

**A/N : ****I wasn't sure I'd be back to write more for this fandom, but welp... Here I am. Thank you so much for reading. As always, reviews are appreciated.**

**Thanks go to the amazing Halcyon_Red for saving poor KinoGlowWorm and being my beta this time around 333 And thank you Heike for helping me come up with a title.**


	2. The Problem with Lukas Fischer

Kala turns on the lights in her flat, locks the door behind her as she takes off her coat and shoes. She walks into the kitchen where she hunts in the refrigerator for last night's leftover _döner _. If she hadn't wasted time trying to get rid of Lukas Fischer, she would have made herself something to eat. But now she is merely exhausted, relieved to be back in the sanctuary of her apartment and contemplating bed in another hour.

She eats the döner unenthusiastically, not quite finishing the last two bites of her half-eaten leftovers before throwing it away. She makes herself hot tea that she pours into a large mug and brings with her into the bedroom. Her computer is always running, so she moves the cursor to bring the screen to life, and sets her mug down to enter her password.

She searches for Felix Berner and Wolfgang Bogdanow.

Felix is definitely the easier one to find. He maintains a business profile on Xing, his photo professionally done in black and white. She is impressed to learn he is her age and already the chief financial officer of a company called _Konanspiele. _But when she looks up the company, there is little information: just a generic description of a "dynamic organization" focused on entertainment. She finds an exterior shot of a brick building with an office address and telephone number. There is no company website.

A few more searches and Kala finds Felix's personal account on a social media site that he marked as private and a Twitter account with the last activity from two years earlier. There are several pictures of Felix on the web: the professional Xing shot and another similar photo; candids of him tagged by other people, smiling widely at the camera. It's an infectious smile, open and uninhibited. Kala finds herself smiling back.

Wolfgang Bogdanow is a ghost.

Kala purses her lips, tries a few other search engines. Like Felix, he has a Xing account, but even that information is bare. Kala only learns that he is a "successful entrepreneur" and that he currently owns _Dämonen, _a nightclub located in a neighborhood Kala is unfamiliar with. Her eyebrows tick up in interest when she discovers he owns the nightclub through his company, Konanspiele. There is no picture of him on his profile.

Kala looks up the club and finds little information, other than that it has been open for 3 years, plays techno, and is only open four days a are a few pictures of a dark interior, club-goers mostly in black; there are no pictures of the club's owner.

Kala sits back, tea in hand.

At least neither seem to have a criminal history.

She smiles a little at her attempt at levity. She is concerned that so little information is available on a man who styles himself as a "successful entrepreneur". Wouldn't such a person be more self-promoting? Shouldn't there be something more? She is suspicious of his lack of information, already leery about getting involved with strangers.

She frowns, wishes there is someone she can ask for an opinion. If she was back home in Mumbai, she'd ask her sister Daya, who is so much more savvy about social networking than she is. In Hannover, Kala would have asked Bettina, whom she had roomed with until her transfer. But in Berlin, Kala lives alone, and unlike her colleagues in Hannover, her team in Berlin is older, going home to families rather than staying to socialize. Kala thinks specifically of Devi, who came from Mumbai a dozen years ago but now lives in Kreuzberg with her husband and small children. Kala wishes she knew her well enough to ask.

The screen goes into "sleep" mode, popping up a screensaver of her family, taken last year at the airport.

Her parents had been worried about her taking a job overseas but had ultimately given in to her enthusiasm. Kala had craved an adventure: a chance to experience life outside of the familiar before she marries and has children and lives in a sensible house down the street from her husband's family.

Kala frowns.

She begged her parents to let her accept the research position with the German pharmaceutical company. She wore them down, convinced them it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, even though she didn't know a soul outside of Mumbai and didn't speak a word of German.

And this past year lived up to all of her expectations and more. She missed her family but made new friends; she broadened her view of the world and experienced a culture and people foreign to her in every way.

And until she was transferred to Berlin, she had not once questioned the wisdom of her decision.

Kala gives a huff of frustration. She's not sure what she did to attract Lukas' attention. She used to question whether she was too friendly that first week or two after her transfer, grateful to make a friend: whether she somehow led him to think she was interested in him in that way. The first time he asked her for a date, she had been completely surprised and a little flattered, but she had turned him down unequivocally.

Kala sits back, thoughtful, tea cradled in her hands. She knows she did nothing from the start, that she did even less after the first time he asked. Yet the rejection only seemed to make Lukas more determined, pressing her with even greater attention.

Kala stares moodily into her cup. Some people, including Daya, might find his persistence charming. But there is something about Lukas Fischer that worries Kala; as if his pleasant demeanor masks something more disturbing. She thought she saw a flash of it this evening, when he was talking to Felix.

She purses her lips, admits that in all fairness she cannot attribute Lukas's behavior to his true nature: There is bad blood between Felix and Lukas. It makes sense that Lukas reacted angrily when he saw her with Felix.

Kala thinks about the events of this evening as objectively as she can: from the moment she left work to the time she left the restaurant, and she grows increasingly mortified. She is embarrassed to recall how petty her actions seem in hindsight. It seemed so urgent at the time, to get away from Lukas, when she should not have run away from him in the first place. It was childish of her. She can reject him a third time, if needed.

Kala finishes her tea, annoyed at herself.

She graduated from university with high honors in biochemistry. She was born and raised in the largest city in India. She moved halfway around the world on her own and learned a completely different language in less than a year. She can certainly handle the unwanted attentions of a coworker.

She doesn't need the assistance of two strangers and an elaborate ruse. She'll message Felix that his help won't be necessary.

Decision made.

Kala puts her mug away, gets ready for bed even though it's barely 9 in the evening.

She falls asleep almost immediately.

…

She doesn't message Felix during her morning commute to work. Kala is self-conscious as she tucks the napkin back inside her purse. She feels as if people watch her, although logically she knows none of the handful of people standing around her on the U-Bahn, and then the bus, even notice.

She stops for coffee on the way to work, arrives at the building with plenty of time to go to her station and retrieve data and notes before the team meeting. She reaches the conference room with Devi, who sits next to her.

The meeting is mostly uneventful. Kala tries to stifle a yawn as the project leader goes over assignments and targets for the next week. But halfway through, he announces the creation of a team to research some new data in immunobiology. Kala's eyes grow large with interest. She asks several questions about the data and the purpose of the team, and when the project leader asks for volunteers, she does not hesitate to do so.

After the meeting, he tells her the new team will meet sometime in the first week of next month. So far, there are four others working on the team.

Lukas Fischer is one of them.

...

Wolfgang pauses long enough to shake his head.

"No," he says, finishing his beer. He sets the bottle down, motions his bartender to give him another.

Felix stares at him in amazement. "What?!" Felix motions for another beer as well, his body practically vibrating with indignation. "Are you _shitting _me? Did you not hear what I told you?"

Wolfgang turns his new bottle between his fingers. From the moment he entered the club, Felix had talked almost non-stop about the amazing coincidence that happened earlier today.

"I heard you," says Wolfgang wearily. "You told Fischer I'm the boyfriend of some woman he's stalking. And you think I should go with her to a party at his place."

"Yeah!" Felix continues, as if he can't believe Wolfgang left out the most important part. "He's fucking _afraid _of you! You should have seen his face when I told him she's yours. I thought he was gonna piss on himself." Felix shakes his head, stares hard at his best friend. "And he _wants _her. Don't you want to rub that in? Don't you just want to watch that smug piss-face of his lose it when he sees you with her?"

Wolfgang takes a long pull from his bottle, watches the club slowly start to fill without really paying attention. He would be lying if he said he didn't care if Fischer is afraid of him. He still cares. Even after all these years. And a part of him - a very angry part of him - wants very much to continue exacting petty vengeance against Lukas Fischer forever.

Fischer had been the best friend of Wolfgang's cousin Steiner. He came from money: smart, good-looking, no one could understand how he came to be friends with someone as brutish as Steiner. What people always missed was that while Steiner was openly cruel, Fischer was quietly vicious.

It was tempting, the need to keep making the man pay for the sins of the boy.

"I'm done with Lukas Fischer." Wolfgang's eyes are steely in the dim light of the club. "He stays away from me. We're good. I don't give a shit about him. He can fuck whoever he wants."

Felix's face shifts. He takes a sip of his bottle, quiet for a moment. "Wolfie," he finally says, dropping his earlier enthusiasm, "I don't think that girl is playing. I don't think she wants him to fuck her. That's why you need to go."

Wolfgang frowns. Up until that moment, it had seemed to him that Felix only saw an opportunity to harass an old nemesis; that the woman was simply a means to an end.

"Look," Felix continues. "She was desperate to get rid of him. She wasn't just messing around." He shakes his head at the skeptical expression Wolfgang gives him. "And Fischer looked at her…" Felix stares at Wolfgang, his words trailing. "You know what I mean."

He does.

Wolfgang lets out a huff. "Fuck."

"Yeah."

They are silent for a moment, deaf to the music the dj plays, to the chatter of club-goers, to drinks being poured.

"So." Felix tips his bottle towards Wolfgang. "You'll do it?"

Wolfgang gives him an exasperated stare. "Who's gonna watch the club while I'm gone?" he asks.

Felix grins at him. "Who else?" he demands, waving the end of his bottle at Wolfgang.

Wolfgang takes one more drink, sighs deeply as he tips his bottle to meet Felix's in a weak toast. "Fuck Lukas Fischer," he murmurs.

Felix smiles widely at him. "Crush your enemies, brother," he says.

…

Kala thinks she is sweating through her palms.

She clenches and unclenches her hands, wipes them against her coat as she paces outside of the restaurant.

She wasn't going to come back. Despite the shock of this morning, Kala was determined to deal with Lukas on her own.

But at lunch, Devi asked about the new team and if their project leader said anything more about the study. "It sounds interesting," Devi added, opening the lid of her soup bowl. "Has anyone else volunteered?"

Kala named the other researchers. She asked Devi hopefully if she was interested.

Devi was not. "I'm sorry Kala" she said, shaking her head. "I know he's your friend, but I dislike Lukas. He's arrogant. Always has been." Devi spooned her soup, eyed Kala cautiously. "Don't be too impressed by him just because his grandfather built this company," she said. "I've worked on a project with him before, and I'll never do it again. He likes to do things his way." Devi had scowled, annoyed.

Kala was shaken. She didn't know about Lukas's family. How would they react to a complaint about him from a new employee? A foreign employee with a work visa?

Which is why she never called Felix, and why she is here, at the restaurant.

Kala stops pacing, takes a breath, and finally goes inside.

The restaurant is much busier than last night, every table full, but her gaze finds the corner where she met Felix yesterday.

He faces the door in the seat she had occupied; another man sits where Felix had been, his back to Kala. A chair is wedged between the two men.

Felix sees her and waves, his grin easing her tension a little. Kala makes her way to the table, stopping on the spot Lukas had yesterday. She almost lets out an uneasy laugh at the coincidence.

"Hey," she says nervously, hand extended to Felix. His brows raise but he shakes her hand, gets up at the same time as the other man to greet her.

"Hey," answers Felix, a laugh in his voice. "Glad you're here. Meet your boyfriend, Wolfgang."

Kala dutifully turns to the second man, hand held out.

He's very good looking.

She's not sure what she expected, but _very good looking_ never occurred to her. Kala frowns slightly, somehow put-off that she finds him attractive. "Hallo." Her voice is steady although she can't completely hide her anxiousness. "I'm Kala."

He shakes her hand, looks at her with cool, impassive blue eyes that are lighter than Felix's. His hair is also a lighter blond, shorter cut; he is not quite clean-shaven, but the few days' growth of stubble adds to his looks.

"Hallo," he says. "Wolfgang."

They sit down. A server comes by but the table is too crowded to eat comfortably, so Kala merely asks for water. Felix and Wolfgang already have 4 bottles of beer between the two of them that the server takes away. Felix asks for another round.

"So you work with Fischer?" Wolfgang rests his elbows on the table, turns slightly to better face her.

"Yes." Kala fidgets at the straps of the purse on her lap. "This is very strange, but thank you for doing this."

"Are you kidding?" Felix stares pointedly at Wolfgang. "I told you he'd do it. Fischer's an ass."

Wolfgang doesn't respond. Kala looks from one to the other. "Are you sure?" she asks Wolfgang. There is a grim flash in his eyes, a slight tic of his jaw. He gives a faint smile, reassuring. He nods. "Yeah."

She tries to gauge whether he's merely being polite, but the look he gives her is steady and inscrutable.

"So. How should we say you met?" Felix leans forward, addresses both of them expectantly.

Kala looks over at Felix, who seems very pleased with himself. She looks back at Wolfgang.

"Your club?" she offers, then admits: "I looked you up. I saw you own a club."

Felix practically blanches; Wolfgang looks slightly amused. "Not the club," he murmurs.

"Not the club," repeats Felix. "How about the zoo?"

"Yes. The zoo. Perfect."

Kala looks at them both. "Ok," she agrees, making a mental note to visit _Dämonen _in the near future.

Wolfgang and Felix relax a little.

"Ok," continues Felix, facilitating the exchange of information. "Six months ago? And you need a believable story."

"I only moved here 3 months ago," Kala says. "I was transferred from Hannover."

"Ok, ok," nods Felix. "You know what we do: what about you? You work at the chemical company?"

"Researcher. I work on medicines for autoimmune disorders."

Felix looks at Wolfgang with a grin, a challenge in his expression. "Kinda out of your league."

Wolfgang smirks. "You're the one that put me there," he says. But he turns his attention to Kala, eyebrow raised. "Clearly I wouldn't have known that when I hit on you by the tigers," he jokes.

"The elephants," she says, smiling. "I've always loved the elephants."

He smiles back. "How could I forget?" he asks.

**A/N:** **Thank you to my lovely beta Halcyon_red! Next up: the party. Thank you for reading:)**


	3. The Party

Kala stares at the clothes in her wardrobe.

In the hour she spent making up a dating history with Felix and Wolfgang, it didn't occur to her to ask whether they think the party will be formal. It seemed more important to corroborate their backgrounds, like her family is in Mumbai, but Wolfgang has no family at all.

Kala gives a soft exhale.

She was surprised, even a little upset, to learn that about Wolfgang. It would be devastating for her. But Wolfgang had only shrugged, saying he hadn't been close to any of them anyway. His response didn't lend itself to her empathy.

She thinks about last night; about how much Wolfgang revealed although he said very little.

He survived a difficult childhood: it had to be, if he lost his mother, and then his father, at a young age. And while he went to live with his uncle, Felix had said Wolfgang was not welcome, that Wolfgang's cousin Steiner was "fucking mean". Kala wonders if Wolfgang was physically abused.

Her lips thin. It didn't surprise her to learn Lukas had been best friends with Wolfgang's cousin. It would explain the deep dislike he has of Lukas.

But despite adversity, Wolfgang managed to become successful; _very _successful, according to Felix. And somehow, the orphan who was bullied by his cousin can now instill fear in a man like Lukas Fischer.

She wonders how.

Kala lets out a breath.

She's not sure what it is about Wolfgang. He isn't just attractive. He has a presence about him: a confidence in himself that is compelling. What would it be like if they had met under different circumstances? If she had been grocery shopping or out on a jog? Or at the zoo?

She smiles a little.

Kala refocuses on her clothes, decides it's better to be a little overdressed than underdressed. She squints at her limited selection: several work skirts and some blouses that scream _office-wear_. She eyes three dresses at the back of the wardrobe: a sheer black sari she is saving for a truly formal event, a gray shift that she wore to her interview, and a red floral dress she purchased shopping with Bettina.

Kala takes the red dress from the hanger. She tries it on, adjusts the scooped neckline that shows more cleavage than she remembers, a back bared almost to her waist. She eyes herself critically in the mirror. She looks good in the dress. She has lipstick in close to the same shade; she wonders which jewelry to wear.

Kala stops abruptly.

If she appears at the party, deliberately attractive, she knows she will draw Lukas's attention. She can almost see it, that predatory look that he doesn't think she notices. It makes her nervous, anxious.

Then she scowls.

Lukas Fischer should not dictate how she dresses.

She _wants _to look pretty. She is going to a party, even if it is Lukas Fischer's party. She wants her "boyfriend" to think she looks pretty. She wants _Wolfgang _to think she looks pretty.

She will not dress up or dress down because of Lukas Fischer.

_Fuck Lukas Fischer._

She surprises herself at her vehemence, breaks into a self-conscious smile before she gives a rueful chuckle.

The voice in her head sounds suspiciously like Felix Berner.

...

Wolfgang parks his car in front of Kala's flat 15 minutes early. He hesitates, then reaches for his glove compartment to grab a lighter and a cigarette from a pack.

He doesn't normally smoke in his car, but tonight he gives in to the craving. He lights the cigarette, takes a long drag that he expels carefully out the open window before he cuts the engine.

He cranes his head around the steering wheel, checks out the neighborhood that Kala lives in. It's a diverse block of mostly immigrants and a few _Ossis _\- former East Berliners - like him. It's not a bad area, but Wolfgang is a little surprised that someone as obviously sheltered as Kala lives in a place that's more rough than genteel. He is pretty certain she can afford something in a better part of the city.

He flicks the ash from his cigarette outside. A lot of things about her surprise him.

He frowns slightly, still amazed she agreed to let him pick her up. Felix had suggested it, and Kala agreed it would look strange not to arrive together, even though she was originally hesitant to give her address.

Wolfgang had made a caustic comment about trusting strangers. Kala had looked at him coolly; pointed out that if anything happens to her, she's confident Lukas Fischer will waste no time telling the police that he or Felix did it.

Wolfgang couldn't argue with that logic. Felix had cackled. Kala smiled at them both with the serene expression of someone who's never had anything truly bad happen to her.

Wolfgang shakes his head just thinking about it. He had frowned disapprovingly at Felix, but Felix had merely shrugged: They both know that horrible things can happen before the police arrive, but why worry Kala? Besides, in their case, she's perfectly safe.

Wolfgang takes a last drag of his cigarette, flicks the stub out the window.

It's a mild spring evening and there are a few people outside, taking advantage of the weather. He gets out of the car, preferring to stretch his legs for the next 10 minutes.

Wolfgang is not sure how he feels about this charade. He could have gone the rest of his life never seeing or hearing anything more about Lukas Fischer. He doesn't need to know that Lukas is still an ass; that he's chasing a woman living alone in a new city.

Wolfgang walks back to his car, his eyes hard. How desperate must she have been to seek the help of strangers? Felix is right: Wolfgang doubts that a pretend boyfriend would have deterred Fischer, or even a _real _boyfriend.

Because Kala Dandekar is fucking beautiful.

Wolfgang frowns, leans against the passenger door of his car. He's not immune to that beauty. He wanted to kick Felix last night for not saying something before he met her; he'd been surprised into an awkward silence.

But the more they talked, the more Wolfgang was intrigued: fascinated by the adventurous spirit that drew her from home, by the keen intelligence behind her large brown eyes. He was impressed by her fluency after only a year living in Germany. She even understood Felix, who often speaks too quickly and peppers his conversation with made-up slang; Wolfgang only needed to rephrase a couple of Felix-ism. He smiles a little at the recollection.

Wolfgang knew, even before she confirmed it, that she came from a family completely unlike his, that she probably grew up loved and protected. She's probably never known a moment of anger or violence or ugliness in her life. And if he can keep Fischer away, she never will from that asshat.

Wolfgang frowns. He wonders what Fischer will do; if just the threat of crossing him is enough to keep Fischer away for good.

Wolfgang moves from his car, paces a little, inexplicably restless. He glances at her building. If she was really with him, he would be in her apartment, waiting. Or helping her dress. Or getting her undressed.

He scoffs at the flash of heat that shoots through him.

The entry door to her building opens and Kala walks out.

His brain stutters a little.

Her hair is in a loose upsweep, silver earrings dangling nearly to her shoulders; they do a fine job showing off the smooth column of her neck. She wears makeup that emphasizes her stunning features: eyes lined to look even more doe-like, lips in a deep red matching the dress peeking out under her coat.

"Hi," she says. The smile she gives him is bright and unaffected, her cheeks pink.

He flushes a little, steps aside from his car as she walks over. "You look beautiful," he tells her honestly, opening the door for her.

She blushes. "Thank you." She flashes an impish grin before she gets inside: "So do you."

He glances at his sleek black trousers and dress shoes, his tailored white shirt rolled at the sleeves. "Ha!" he closes the door after her, walks to his side and gets in.

Kala is already buckled, her purse on her lap. She smiles gently as he fumbles a little with the seat belt he doesn't normally use, her eyes shrewd as he rolls his window up before he pulls away.

"You smoke?" she asks, her tone curious.

Wolfgang side-eyes her. "Yeah."

She doesn't say anything in response; he doesn't offer more.

They drive for perhaps another minute before he catches her glance shyly at him. "Thank you. Again. For doing this," she exhales. He notices her fingers splay along her lap. "I'm a little nervous."

"Yeah?" She looks confident, at ease; he's surprised by this admission. "Don't be," he tells her. "This is easy. If you forget something, who's going to say so?"

She is quiet for a moment. "That's true," she agrees. "And we've only been together for a couple of months anyway. We're still learning about each other."

"_Genau,_" he says. _Exactly_.

Kala stares out the window as he reaches a light. Wolfgang turns to watch her, notices a subtle shift in her back, the way it relaxes a little more into her seat. He turns his attention back when the light changes.

"I wasn't sure if I'd be overdressed," she says after another minute. "But if I am, I'm glad you are too."

Wolfgang scoffs. "I don't think I've ever been to a party of his where I didn't wear a suit. Even when I was a kid. He likes to look rich."

Kala hums at that, turns her head to face him. "I didn't even know that his family started the company until yesterday," she says. "And the last time that you saw him was at your cousin's funeral, five years ago?"

He is silent for a moment. "Yes."

She doesn't press further, merely nods.

It's a 30 minute drive from Kala's borough to Lukas Fischer's. Wolfgang glances at her when they reach the area, watches her eyes as they drive past the high-end shops and quaint cafes. She tells him she explored this part of the city quite a bit when she first moved to Berlin: the museums, the theater, the palace. Wolfgang drives on past the more touristy parts of Charlottenburg to the older residential area.

He pulls up in front of a detached home at the end of a private street, leaves the car running for the young man who steps forward to park the vehicle somewhere. Wolfgang grabs his suit jacket from the back. He unrolls his shirt sleeves, shrugs the coat on as Kala lets herself out. She walks over to him as soon as his car is driven away, her arms wrapped protectively around her.

She stares up at the Spanish-inspired villa with its wrought iron balconies and warm clay exterior.

Wolfgang thought she would look impressed. She merely looks anxious. "We can leave whenever you want," he tells her quietly.

She nods, gives him a quick, forced smile. "I know," she says.

"I'll watch out for you."

"I know."

She gives a short exhale and looks up at him, searches his face, maybe looking for assurance behind the words. He thinks again how desperate she must have been and wonders whether he'll get out of the evening without punching Fischer in the face.

Kala nods her head. "I'm ready," she says. "But first." She turns to face him fully, reaches up to adjust the untucked collar of his shirt. She smiles shyly. "Ok. Now I'm ready."

He relaxes, smirks a little at that. Wolfgang turns up the palm of his left hand. She places her hand in his, their fingers lacing together.

They walk the few steps to the door. Wolfgang rings the bell and squeezes Kala's stiff fingers as they wait.

Fischer answers himself.

His haircut is shorter, but otherwise Lukas Fischer looks the same: lean, athletic, moneyed. His shirt cuffs are monogrammed, the patterned charcoal waistcoat matches the tailored trousers. His shoes are a rich patent leather.

Fischer's eyes meet Wolfgang's briefly. There is a flicker of surprise and distaste, right before Fischer's gaze drops to the joined hands. He puts on a practiced, social smile and looks at Kala.

"Welcome," he says. He turns reluctantly to address her guest. "It's been a long time, Wolfgang."

"Yes."

Fischer moves aside. "Come in."

Kala steps forward first, releasing her hand from Wolfgang's. She extends it politely to Fischer, unsurprised when he covers it immediately with both of his. For a second, Wolfgang thinks Fischer is about to kiss her cheek but thinks better of it.

"Thank you for inviting us, Lukas," says Kala.

"Of course." Fischer's voice is warm. "I have some friends I thought might be good for you to meet." He releases her hand. "Leave your coat, join us. I'll introduce you. Both." he adds, with a stiff smile.

Kala is already untying the loose belt at her waist; Wolfgang holds the top of her coat lightly as she slides her arms from the sleeves. He notices Fischer's gaze and frowns, glaring.

And then Kala shifts free and his breath catches._ Scheiße. _

If his mind had stuttered before, it completely fails now, distracted by the smooth expanse of Kala's bare skin. His gaze drops along the delicate trace of her shoulders, the exposed curve of her spine, and lower still. A woman standing beside him gently takes Kala's coat from his hands.

Kala slings her purse over her shoulder, looks up at him with a tentative smile. He rests his hand on the small of her back, his palm straddling her skin and the waistline of her dress. He notices her pupils grow large, breath hitches. He's certain she can see an answering expression on his face. "You look amazing," he says, leaning into her ear. She turns a delicate shade of red.

Wolfgang catches the hard stare that Fischer gives him: Wolfgang keeps his hand on Kala's waist.

There are ten, maybe twelve other people mingling in two rooms. Fischer interrupts a conversation between a man and an attractive blonde who doesn't stay for introductions. Wolfgang vaguely recognizes the man.

"Kala," says Fischer. "This is my cousin, Karl Bohm. Karl, Kala Dandekar, a fellow researcher at the company."

Bohm is not quite five years older than Fischer but looks much more, his face deeply lined. His eyebrows raise as he shakes Kala's hand. She gives a polite "nice to meet you".

"Miss Dandekar." He throws a knowing glance at Fischer who notices Wolfgang's steely glare.

Fischer looks pointedly at his cousin. "And maybe you remember Wolfgang Bogdanow? Steiner's cousin?"

Bohm looks blankly at Wolfgang before good manners take over. He shakes Wolfgang's hand, slightly confused.

"I don't remember, I'm sorry," he says. "_Steiner's _cousin?" His eyes narrow warily.

Wolfgang gives a mocking look. "Yes. Steiner Bogdanow," he says.

Bohm darts an accusing glare at Fischer.

"But I was never involved with Steiner's business," offers Wolfgang.

The relief on Bohm's face is comical. "Oh!" He smiles sincerely at Wolfgang. "I thought Lukas invited you because -"

"No." Fischer's expression is tense. "It's a small world, isn't it? He's Kala's guest."

Bohm suddenly looks from Wolfgang to Kala, as if just noticing the hand Wolfgang rests on Kala's hip. "Are you two together?" he asks.

"Yes," answers Kala.

Bohm gives a chuckle, his face clearing. "_Oh._"

Fischer doesn't seem amused. "Let me introduce you to the others here."

He leads them to the nearest group of guests. Wolfgang recognizes no one else; no one else reacts to his name. The introductions are polite. Fischer makes a point of saying Kala works with him as a research scientist. Wolfgang is introduced as her guest. She and Wolfgang are met with curiosity but not rudely so.

Felix was correct about one other thing: there is a visceral satisfaction in watching Fischer seethe with envy.

It seems obvious why Kala, who is neither wealthy nor a close friend, is invited; why Fischer seems intent on acquainting her with his circle. His guests throw furtive, knowing looks, amused. They eye Wolfgang speculatively, take in the possessive hand on her hip, the way she leans into his embrace. Wolfgang knows Fischer sees it, too.

They meet the rest of Fischer's guests in much the same way. With each introduction, Fischer's polite facade seems to slip.

Kala engages in conversation with a woman in the last group who has some connection to the Hannover branch. Wolfgang takes the opportunity to ask Fischer to show him where he can get a drink.

Fischer's eyes flash but he nods, aware that Wolfgang knows precisely where the bar is. "Of course."

"This isn't necessary, you know," says Fischer quietly as he leads them to the next room.

"Isn't it?" Wolfgang shakes his head. "I don't think it's polite to keep looking at my girlfriend like you wanna fuck her."

The coarseness of Wolfgang's words startle Fischer. "I don't."

"You do." Wolfgang goes behind the bar at the end of the room. No other guests are there. He helps himself to a shot of vodka, pours the same for Fischer. "I don't appreciate it, and more importantly Kala doesn't either."

Fischer's expression tightens. "I'm not sure what she's told you."

"She didn't tell me anything." Wolfgang hands Fischer the shot. "But I'm not blind." He lifts his glass. "_Za Kala._" _To Kala._

Fischer flinches at the Russian toast. "_Prost," _he mutters.

**A/N: Huge thanks to Halcyon_red for helping me pare this already long chapter down! As always, reviews are much appreciated!**


	4. Boundaries

Kala sits in a quiet corner in Lukas's home, alone with Dr. Ruth Al-Saadawi.

Dr. Al-Saadawi is in charge of the development of new drugs for the company. She looks to be in her mid-60s, maybe older, with strong, square features. She exudes an air of self-confidence, offset by lively hazel eyes. She is pleased with the progress of research Kala worked on in Hannover and gives an enthusiastic update.

Except that for the last several minutes, since Wolfgang disappeared with Lukas, Kala has not been able to focus.

She releases a huff, nods at something Dr. Al-Saadawi says.

Lukas is on edge, tense at Wolfgang's presence. He stiffened each time he made introductions, each time a word or question was directed at Wolfgang.

Kala reminds herself that the point of attending the party is to reinforce her unavailability. But she almost feels bad for Lukas. Wolfgang plays the attentive boyfriend very well.

Kala's attention involuntarily drifts.

They had agreed last night to some physical displays of affection, normal to any relationship. She expected Wolfgang to hold her hand, put an arm around her waist; things people in a relationship do. And he did these things.

But what she didn't expect is how Wolfgang goes about them: that his thumb strokes her fingers when their hands join, that his palm slides along her spine before resting at the small of her back. Small acts of intimacy that she finds disconcertingly welcome. Even pleasurable. Kala clears a slight catch in her throat and smiles apologetically for interrupting Dr. Al-Saadawi.

She is unsettled by her reaction, how sensitive she feels where his hand touches her, how distracted she becomes when his fingers brush against her skin. He has not been apart from her all evening, and it almost feels real, even though she knows it's all a show for Lukas.

Kala gives a slow exhale.

"He's very handsome."

Kala blinks, startled. "Pardon me?"

"Your boyfriend," clarifies Dr. Al-Saadawi, amused. "You've been distracted since he left with Lukas."

Kala is mortified. "I'm so sorry," she stammers.

Dr. Al-Saadawi merely waves away the apology with a chuckle. "I'm very glad you make time for something other than your work. It's important to have that." She smiles gently. "And you seem very happy. He certainly seems very taken with you."

Kala feels the heat creep up her cheeks. "Thank you," she says, embarrassed and guilty.

"Will you be overseeing the new project they just announced for our lab?" she asks, eager to change the subject. "I've just been told it has something to do with recent data on PGs and how they release bioactive fragments."

Dr. Al-Saadawi smiles a little, willing to be distracted. "I'm not sure," she says. "I'm not familiar with a new project. Is it in Phase 1?"

"Yes." Kala nods, relieved to be discussing safer topics. "I don't have any more details since they only asked for volunteers to work on the project yesterday."

Dr. Al-Saadawi gives a genuine frown, thoughtful. She shakes her head. "I should look into that," she says, but her eyes suddenly light, mouth quirking into a smile.

Kala looks over her shoulder. Wolfgang walks toward them, a champagne flute in each hand. He meets her eyes and she finds herself inexplicably flustered. Lukas is out of sight.

"And now your young man is back," murmurs Dr. Al-Saadawi, brows arched. "Maybe you will be, too."

Kala smiles weakly.

They say nothing more until Wolfgang reaches them, extending a glass to each which they both accept.

"None for you?" asks Dr. Al-Saadawi.

Wolfgang shakes his head. "I don't really care for champagne," he says, sitting next to Kala on the settee. He leans against the cushions, an arm thrown over the low back of the sofa as Kala takes a sip from her glass.

"It's very good," she remarks, pleasantly surprised.

Dr. Al-Saadawi hums in agreement; Wolfgang makes a noncommittal sound.

Dr. Al-Saadawi asks Wolfgang how he knows Lukas. Kala sighs and leans contentedly into the curve of Wolfgang's shoulder as he gives his practiced answer. He hesitates for the barest moment before he puts his arm around her, hand rests lightly at her thigh.

The feel of that hand, thumb curled along the jut of her pelvis, causes an unexpected fissure of want. Kala expels a shaky breath, startled, but the sensation is barely registered before Wolfgang moves to sit back in his original position, angles himself so that it's too awkward for her to rest against him with her glass in hand.

It happens so quickly she is visibly surprised. But in the next instant, she remembers that Lukas is not in the room. There is no need to perform. Kala takes a sip of her drink, tongues the rim of her glass.

Dr. Al-Saadawi tells Wolfgang that he is a lucky man, that Kala is smart and has a very bright future. She asks questions the other guests have already asked, questions Kala and Wolfgang and Felix had prepared for last night.

Kala only half-listens: guilty at the deception she presents to Dr. Al-Saadawi, who seems genuinely pleased by Kala's relationship; guilty at overstepping her role with Wolfgang, who is under no obligation to play the boyfriend when Lukas isn't there to see.

Kala finishes her champagne, sets the glass on the small coffee table. She makes an excuse to use the restroom.

"It's at the end of the hallway," says Wolfgang. "I'll show you."

Kala gets up, shakes her head. "No need." She smiles at his concerned frown. "I'll be right back."

He looks at her closely but doesn't insist.

She is unaccustomed to the champagne. Kala feels surprisingly light-headed the moment she takes a few steps. She wonders if Wolfgang notices, but Dr. Al-Saadawi remarks on something that claims his attention.

Kala makes her way to the other side of the room. She smiles politely at the other guests as she walks by. She rounds a corner and almost collides with Lukas, but he catches her, his hands on her shoulders.

"Kala." His eyes widen in surprise.

She gives a startled huff. "I was just on my way to your restroom." He slides his hands from her shoulders before dropping his hold. Kala takes an instinctive step back that doesn't escape his attention.

"Come on. It's down here." He turns, walks with her in the direction he came from.

They pass a room where some men chat by a bar. The guests stop talking as she walks by with Lukas; he nods affably at them. One of the men raises a glass.

Lukas stops at a door at the end of the hallway, knocks loudly; no one responds. "You're in luck," he says. "It's empty."

"Thank you," she murmurs. Lukas doesn't move aside. He watches her with an expression that makes her uneasy. "What?"

"I'm just. Confused." He speaks quietly, but she doesn't mistake the anger in his inflection. He takes a deep breath, exaggerates his movements."Of all people, how are _you _with Wolfgang Bogdanow? That fucking asshole is _your _boyfriend."

"Lukas." Kala feels strangely composed, perhaps buoyed still by the champaign. "I told you this at the restaurant. You shouldn't have invited me."

Lukas makes a scoffing sound. "I didn't believe you," he says flatly. "I wasn't sure you'd come. I didn't think _he _would come."

Kala frowns slightly. "He'll wonder what's taking me so long," she says.

Lukas steps aside, his expression an odd mix of nervousness and resentment. "Don't worry. Your guard dog was pretty clear with me tonight," he tells her. "I won't bother you again. But you're making a mistake."

The voices from the other room resume and grow closer as the guests make their way from the bar.

Lukas gives a twisted smile. "I don't know what he's told you, but your trust in him is misplaced," he tells her roughly. "I'm not a monster. Wolfgang is a monster. From a family of monsters. You'll learn." He walks away, joins his other guests.

Kala waits a second or two before she enters the restroom, inexplicably tense now that the moment is over.

She is unconcerned by Lukas's outburst. Whatever the basis for his animus toward Wolfgang, she knows that she already trusts Wolfgang more than him: that there is no feeling of unease with Wolfgang that had marked her friendship with Lukas from the beginning.

She wants to understand why that is; examine it with a scientific mindset to justify the gut feeling.

Kala lets out a calming breath, disturbed and annoyed, although whether at Lukas or herself she's hard-pressed to tell.

…

They stay another half hour, just long enough to cycle through Lukas's guests a second time. Kala doesn't speak to Lukas again except to say goodnight. Lukas nods, tells her he'll see her at work. "Yes," she says.

She puts her coat on while Wolfgang takes off his jacket. They wait outside in silence for his car to be brought round, Kala hyper-aware of his presence.

Wolfgang watches her in the dim street light, brows furrowed. "Are you ok?" he asks.

Kala nods, smiles fleetingly. "Just glad it's over," she says. "I'm tired."

He seems to accept the explanation and nods. "You'll be home soon," he says quietly.

When his car arrives, Kala is relieved to get inside. She buckles in and turns her head to stare at the view from her window.

She had been self-conscious the last half hour at the party, her initial ease in Wolfgang's company lost. She is disconcerted that she finds him more than just objectively attractive. Wolfgang must have noticed, choosing not to do more than just hold her hand those last few minutes. Kala wonders what he must think.

_In a matter of minutes, it will no longer matter._ She gazes fiercely out the window.

Wolfgang glances at her, clears his throat. "I think it went well," he says stiffly. "The party," he adds.

"Hmm?" Kala stares back. "Oh. Yes. I don't think Lukas will bother me anymore." She gives an exhale, shoulders easing. "Whatever you said to him, he said he'll leave me alone."

Wolfgang frowns, arrested. "He told you that?" he asks. "When?"

She cringes. She hadn't mentioned her encounter with Lukas. "When I was on my way to the restroom." She sees his face darken and gives a faint sigh. "I'm ok, Wolfgang," she says. "Nothing happened."

He merely grunts in disbelief, brings the car to a stop at the traffic light. "I should have gone with you " he murmurs.

Kala smiles at the absurdity of the statement. "That would have been a little odd," she says. "You're the boyfriend, not the bodyguard."

He side-eyes her, makes a scoffing noise. "I don't think anyone would've been surprised if I'd followed you there."

"To the restroom?" she asks, laughing.

He looks at her oddly, eyebrows raised.

It takes her a moment to understand what he implies.

"Oh," she says softly. She's grateful for the darkness in the car that hides the redness of her face. She remembers the man who raised his glass at Lukas and gives a mortified gasp. "_Oh_."

Wolfgang shakes his head, smirks as he pulls the car away and continues to drive.

Kala's mind hooks onto the concept that anyone could be so bold as to have_ intercourse _in someone's restroom. She turns this over in her head, wrinkles her nose at the very idea. "It seems a bit unsanitary don't you think?" she asks sincerely.

Wolfgang makes a sound; she turns to look at him and is surprised to find him smiling as he studiously keeps his eyes on the road.

"I mean," she continues,"we were at a private home. At a party. We're not teenagers." She warms to her theme, encouraged by Wolfgang's amusement. "We're adults. We're not ruled by hormonal urges. Surely that kind of thing can wait."

Wolfgang's mouth closes tightly, he gives a sigh.

"Sometimes it can't," he says simply.

She watches the shadows play across his face as his amusement dissipates. Kala sits back in her seat, stares out the window, silent again.

Lukas said he would stop pursuing her, and she believes him: He was too angry not to have meant it. And the way he said he'd see her at work… She understood that to mean she will _only _see him at work.

In short, this whole mad idea - Felix's suggestion - was a resounding success.

"I can't thank you enough for what you've done." Kala recognizes the streets Wolfgang drives through, in her area of Berlin. "Felix, too. That you would both help a stranger. I'll message Felix to thank him. But you, Wolfgang. Thank you."

He stares ahead, silent at first before he gives a slight nod. "Of course," he says brusquely.

Kala chews her lower lip.

They reach her neighborhood in short time. She is impressed he remembers how to get here, let alone which building is hers. There is no space in front, so Wolfgang pulls close alongside some parked cars, leaving plenty of room for any vehicle to go around him.

He idles his car, gives a soft huff. "If Lukas troubles you again," he says, "let me know."

Kala nods. "I will." She unbuckles her seat belt, wistful. She tries to choose her words carefully to say goodbye. "Wolfgang," she begins.

She hears his door open and looks up in time to see him get out. She watches him come around the front of the car to her side and open the door. Kala blinks up at him in surprise.

"When you message Felix, be sure to tell him I remembered to open your door. Like a gentleman," he says solemnly, although his eyes are gentle with amusement.

"Of course." Kala laughs a little as she gets out of the car. "You've been very much a gentleman," she agrees quietly.

"Under the circumstances," he adds with a smirk. He closes her door, watches curiously as she moves to face him in the small space between cars.

"Yes. About that." Kala gives a soft huff, slides her purse strap over a shoulder. "I want to apologize. About earlier," she says.

His brows arch as if he expected her to say something else entirely. "Apologize?" he repeats, leaning back against his car.

"Yes." Kala frowns. She takes a bracing breath. "When we were talking with Dr. Al-Saadawi, you sat down next to me. There was plenty of room, but my first instinct was to curl up beside you." His gaze doesn't waver from her face, and she stutters a little before determinedly forging on. "I didn't think to even look for Lukas. I just...I just _moved_, and that put you in a position where you _had _to hold me. I'm very sorry for that."

He looks steadily back at her. "You are apologizing to me for that?"

She gives a huff of embarrassment. "Yes," she says, stiffly. "I don't want you upset with me. Or offended. Not after what you've done for me."

"Why would you think that I'm either?" he asks, brows drawn.

She shoots him a quick, embarrassed smile. "Well," she says, "you moved very quickly away from me, for one. And afterward, you only held my hand. I knew I overstepped."

His eyes flash. Wolfgang gives a quiet exhale, lifts himself from his car to stand tall in front of her.

She stares back; the small space they occupy feels even smaller.

"Kala," he says evenly. His gaze is direct, intense, although there is a hint of self-mockery in the smirk tugging the corner of his mouth. "All evening I've had my hands on you. All. Evening. It wasn't Fischer I was thinking of when I moved from you."

She drops her gaze, cheeks flushed.

"Oh," she says softly. Her mind races, certain that she didn't misunderstand, but compelled to ask. "Why then?" She looks up at him and her heart pounds loudly at his closeness, at the look he gives her, at the way her body responds.

"Why?" His smirk becomes more pronounced, eyes hooded. "Because I liked touching you. Because the more I did, the more it felt like you were really mine. Because I didn't want _you _upset or offended by _me_." He shakes his head, eyes steely. "I don't want you to think I'm like Fischer."

Kala eyes widen, brows furrow. She wants to tell him that somehow she knows she is safe with him, that she wishes he had just told her. She shakes her head. "I don't think you're like him at all, Wolfgang," she says softly.

He watches her face, transfixed. "No?" he asks. His eyes drop to her mouth, head tilts as his gaze trails along her neck, and she is mesmerized by how dark his pupils become, how his lips part on an exhale.

"No," she whispers. She isn't sure how it is that they are so close, how she only has to lift her chin just a bit before her mouth touches his.

"And if I ask to kiss you?" he murmurs.

Kala's eyes meet his briefly. "I'd say yes," she breathes.

There is nothing tentative about the way Wolfgang kisses.

His lips are sure, demanding, capturing her mouth with a low moan that resonates throughout her body. She is overwhelmed by how quickly he assaults her senses, how quickly she abandons thought for sheer sensation.

Wolfgang kisses along her throat, fingers trace her nape, cup her head, as his mouth travels to suck gently along her collarbone. She sighs deeply, arches closer, her hands finding their way around his neck.

He gives a jagged groan, his mouth returning to hers, tongue darting between her lips. He tugs at the strap of her coat, unbuttons it enough for his hands to steal inside and touch her back. She burns where he touches, cants her hips to him.

He pulls away. "Kala." He rests his forehead on hers, kisses the corner of her mouth. "Kala."

She feels heady, her thoughts incoherent. He sounds distant, even as his lips trail kisses along her cheek, nip gently at her ear. "Mmmm," she sighs.

"We can't stay out here," he tells her.

She closes her eyes tightly, savors the lingering feel of his cheek against her own. "No," she agrees.

He lifts his head. Kala opens her eyes.

Wolfgang's face is raw with desire, heavy-lidded, flushed. From the ragged look in his eyes, she suspects her face looks much the same. "Let me stay with you tonight," he says.

She wants him. She wants to feel his hands roam over her body, for him to do wicked things that will leave them both trembling. She wants him to kiss her so she thinks of nothing beyond him.

But already her sanity struggles to reassert itself, remind her that she is not a teenager ruled by hormonal urges.

_Wolfgang doesn't do relationships._

She steps back a little, flushed. "If you stay with me," she asks, "what does that mean? For us?"

He stares at her for a second. He drops his hands from her waist. "I'm not looking for a relationship, Kala."

It feels like someone steals her breath.

She bobs her head. It takes her a moment to trust herself to speak. "Thank you for being honest," she says.

Wolfgang is silent, face as pale now as it had been heated not a moment earlier. "Kala." He whispers her name but says nothing more.

She nods again, buttons her coat, ties the strap.

"Goodbye, Wolfgang." She can't bring herself to smile even a little, to shake it off and pretend she doesn't care. She can't bring herself to pretend this was nothing to her. Kala turns around, edges between the two parked cars to reach the sidewalk.

"Kala."

She pauses, turns her head.

"Promise me you'll let me know if Fischer still bothers you."

She gives a faint huff. "I will."

She pauses at the entrance of her building, pulls her key from her purse, and disappears inside. She hears him leave a minute or two later.

**A/N: Ngl...the JMS tweets helped me power through this update after a really rough month, as I'm sure it's been for all of you.**

**Stay safe, everyone!**


	5. Blurred Lines

Kala tells herself she is exhausted after a trying evening: She is not upset with Wolfgang or how they parted. She is merely tired, in need of sleep.

Except sleep eludes her.

Kala closes her eyes, opens them again minutes later, unable to stop her thoughts from returning to Wolfgang. He had been considerate of her all evening, protective and genuinely kind. He was so sincere she had thought… _What_? That she would be different?

Kala grimaces. She switches her position in bed from her back to her side. She's not sure what she thought. She's not sure why she thought Wolfgang wanted anything more than just sex at the end of a long night. There was nothing complicated or unexpected about it at all.

She can't blame him for her foolishness: that the role-play they agreed on had her spinning romantic fantasies. How was he to know that she would want more than a casual hookup? Especially since this entire charade is premised on Lukas Fischer's disbelief that she could be Wolfgang's girlfriend.

Because Wolfgang Bogdanow doesn't do relationships.

Kala scoffs at herself, embarrassed and annoyed by her own naivety. Why did she ask him when she knew the answer? She should have just taken what he offered and accepted the experience as part of her adventure abroad: something to remember when she is back home, in Mumbai.

At home she would never, _ever_, have considered sex with a stranger. By the gods, she has only slept with one person after years of courtship and after much careful consideration. And _planning_! The opportunity certainly didn't just present itself.

But in Berlin?

Kala sighs. Moral standards are definitely more lax, and Bettina had certainly encouraged her to experiment, but Kala felt no great curiosity, let alone urgency, to sleep with anyone.

Until now.

Kala turns on her back, stares up at the shadows on her ceiling, breath quickening. She's never forgotten herself like she did tonight: never been so consumed by need that she could hardly think past Wolfgang's burning mouth and lazily searching hands. If he hadn't stopped to ask if he could stay with her...

Kala closes her eyes. She wishes she had just ignored her disappointment and embraced the moment. She wouldn't be awake now, an hour later, wracked with frustration and regret.

She wonders if Wolfgang feels the same way but dismisses the thought. She's not so naive as to think Wolfgang won't find someone else tonight.

Kala chews her bottom lip, turns to sleep on her side, inexplicably jealous. She toys with the idea of calling him right now, but she knows she won't do so: How much more foolish would she feel if he ignores her call because he's already moved on?

It's too late for everything. Wolfgang is gone.

Kala forces herself to lie still and think of something else - anything else - besides the dull ache blooming in her chest.  
…

He drives almost automatically to the club.

Wolfgang scowls as he suddenly realizes he's turning down the street where _Dämonen_ is located.

He didn't mean to come here: The drive cooled him off. Yet on some level, he must have thought this is where he should be if he isn't going to be in Kala's bed.

Wolfgang frowns as he parks his car in his designated space.

_A teenager fueled by hormonal urges._

The phrase has been stuck in his mind since she uttered it. What would she think if she knew where he is right now? Wolfgang reaches for a cigarette, fingers already clutching a lighter.

She would look at him with those guileless, liquid brown eyes, wide with surprise and curiosity: right before she realizes that he's come here to find someone else to fuck.

Wolfgang rolls his window down a few more inches to let out a puff of smoke. He knows exactly what her expression would look like: a combination of hurt and disappointment similar to what he saw only half an hour ago. He is haunted by that look.

Wolfgang grunts, annoyed. He's not sure why he reacts to that look at all. She's not the first or the last person he'll tell that he doesn't want a relationship. And she's not the first person to send him home after that announcement. But it's the first time it bothers him, sits uneasily in his mind.

Wolfgang frowns. He finishes his cigarette, flicks the stub out the window before he rolls it back up and gets out of the car.

Maybe it's because he's spent the evening pretending to be Kala's jealous boyfriend, but he feels almost guilty for being here, at the club.

As if he owes her anything.

Wolfgang walks past the small queue of people waiting to get in and nods at his bouncer, Yeruslan, who opens the door. It's still early by club standards, but the place is busy and the dance floor is already starting to press with grinding bodies. Wolfgang checks out the crowd. He wonders whether he should tell Felix, who is usually at the bar, that he's here, but decides against it: Felix isn't expecting him and will doubtless have questions that Wolfgang would rather not answer. Wolfgang ducks past the bar and keeps to the dark perimeter, darting past nooks that are popular with club goers looking for a quick thrill.

He gets to the back and nods at the second bouncer, Sasha, who stops everyone but invited guests from reaching the second floor. Sasha unclips the heavy chain that blocks the stairs and moves to let Wolfgang through. The usual upstairs crowd doesn't arrive for at least another hour, so Wolfgang walks up, past the balconied party rooms, undisturbed. He stalks down a narrow hall to his office, unlocks the door and lets himself in.

"_Scheiße_!" Felix peers over the computer monitor, wide-eyed. "You startled me!"

Wolfgang frowns, eyes narrow as he looks around suspiciously. "My office," he retorts. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Relax." Felix shakes his head, shifts his chair behind the desk so Wolfgang can see him. "I'm here alone, working, not getting my dick wet. Which…" Felix's eyes narrow. "Why are _you_ here? Thought for sure you'd be, _you know._" He wags his eyebrows suggestively.

Wolfgang scowls and shuts the door behind him. "Don't be an ass," he grumbles. He helps himself to a beer from the mini bar, walks to a leather sofa along a far wall and sits length-wise to face Felix. "I dropped Kala off and came here."

Felix stares at him, clearly confused. "Ok." Felix sits back against the seat. "Don't think I won't get to that. But first, how did it go? How was Fischer?"

Wolfgang shrugs, takes a long drink from the bottle. "Pissed. He wasn't exactly happy to see me. Is that what you want to know?"

Felix lets out a delighted chuckle. "I knew it!" He springs forward, slaps his hands on the desk. "Fischer didn't think you'd be there, did he? Bet he almost puked seeing you again. He didn't believe Kala's your girlfriend, did he?"

"He didn't. And he apologized to _me_. Fucker." Wolfgang's mouth twists in distaste. Lukas had already been drinking, so it didn't take more than a shot or two or three to open him up, instill the fear of god - or a very jealous Wolfgang. _Schlappschwanz_. Wolfgang takes another long drink.

Felix nods, unsurprised. His face splits into a grin. "Then mission accomplished," he says. "You got him off of Kala's back. Did you tell her?"

Wolfgang grunts a little. "He told her."

"_He_ told her?"

"Yeah." Wolfgang finishes the bottle and sets it on the floor. He lies back to rest his head on the sofa arm. "She said he did. I wasn't there." He closes his eyes, a headache suddenly pulsing at his temples. "Anyway. She said thank you for everything. She'll message you herself."

"Oh. Ok." Felix stares hard at Wolfgang. A solid minute of silence, underscored by a dull thudding bass from the music below, crawls by before Felix finally sighs and shakes his head. "Brother," he says, "I don't know what the fuck happened, but whatever it is maybe you should call her."

Wolfgang grunts but doesn't move, the headache more persistent, his eyes still shut.

"Why the fuck are you even here?" Felix asks, baffled. "Are you tired? Why are you sleeping here?"

"I'm not sleeping," Wolfgang opens one eye to prove the point. "It was just an early evening so I thought I'd come here and get some work done. Only you seem to be doing that, so maybe I'll just go downstairs in a little bit."

"_Wait_."

Felix sinks back against the chair, a look of exaggerated amazement on his face. Wolfgang closes his eye, jaw clenching, aware that Felix is about to guess - usually with surprising accuracy - what the issue really is.

"Wait," repeats Felix. "Did you just get sent home _blue-balled_? Did you come here to get _laid_?"

Wolfgang exhales slowly. "Felix."

"_You did_." Felix clucks his tongue. "I'm disappointed in you, Wolfgang," he says sternly, although the amusement in his tone is noticeable.

Wolfgang refuses to be baited. "Would I be up here in my office first?" he comments logically.

"True. Or maybe you just wanna wait until the freaks come out." Felix chuckles. "I mean, those guys are up for anything. You know last week Yeruslan caught someone trying to sneak in a live chicken? I mean, I know we let a lot of shit happen. A _lot_. But a live chicken! I mean, what the fuck! All we need is PETA to come and complain about us. _Again_."

Wolfgang sits up, suddenly annoyed by Felix's blabber. The headache seems lodged in his temples and the music only compounds the discomfort. "I'm going home."

"Hey, wait." Felix gets up from the chair, walks to lean against the front of the desk. His amusement of a moment ago is replaced by concern. "Are you ok? I'm just giving you a hard time. It's your club. Stay and hook up with someone. Or two." Felix's eyebrows rise almost reflexively. "Or three. I won't judge."

"Nah." Wolfgang shakes his head. "And this is _our_ club. But I'm not some horny teen," he says, the ghost of a smile flickering across his face. "I just need to sleep off this headache."

"Headache?" Felix looks at him suspiciously. "Since when do you get headaches?"

Wolfgang rolls his eyes. He stands up and pats Felix on the shoulder. "See you tomorrow."

Felix looks unconvinced. "_Ja_."

Wolfgang knows Felix is concerned, but right now, all he wants is to leave and go back to his place: sleep off the guilt and the want; forget the taste and smell of a woman he'll never see or hear from again.

…

The message from Kala is predictably sweet, flatteringly grateful. Felix shows it to Wolfgang when they see each other late Sunday. Felix especially likes the part where she calls him her knight in shining armor, followed by a hugging emoji. She mentions that Wolfgang was a perfect gentleman and the best fake boyfriend she could hope for.

Wolfgang scoffs and shakes his head. He asks Felix if he's hired another dancer for Thursday and Saturday, if he remembered to put in the liquor order for the week, if he's still taking off in three weeks to see his mother in Wuppertal while she recovers from a planned surgery. Felix confirms all these things and puts his cell phone away with a sigh.

In the cold, rational light of day, it feels like last night was a fever dream. Wolfgang recalls it with some disbelief, convinced that playing Kala's boyfriend influenced his mood to a ridiculously sentimental level: one where he worried that he had made a huge mistake. The feeling nagged at him enough that he almost called her to apologize, ask if they can start again, for real.

He didn't, of course. It was two in the morning and his head hurt and she was probably already asleep and would not appreciate being woken up by someone she was already upset with.

By daylight, Wolfgang decided he was just frustrated and tired. But he doesn't want to discuss this with Felix any more than he wants to think about it. He deflects Felix's questions about Saturday, doesn't respond to comments about Kala. Wolfgang shrugs and redirects his friend to work talk: numbers and profit and anything except what happened last night.

Felix eventually gives up. "I just have one thing to ask, though," he says, after being cut off for the fourth time that evening from mentioning Kala's text message. "If Fischer bugs her again, is she on her own, or will you help her?"

Wolfgang's jaw clenches a little as a mental image of Fischer cornering Kala in a lab flashes in his head. "_Ja, sicher_," he says. _Of course_.

Felix nods, satisfied.

They don't discuss Fischer or Kala for the rest of the day.  
…

There's no call from Kala all week.

Felix remarks on it when Friday passes without a message. Wolfgang agrees it's a good sign.

There's no word on the following Monday, either, or Tuesday. Or Wednesday.

But on Friday morning, almost two weeks after Fischer's party, it is Felix who sends a message to Kala.

_Hey. We_ have_ a problem._  
_Can you be Wolfie's girlfriend?_

**_A/N:_**** Look... Everyone needs a Felix.**

**Thank you Halcyon_red for streamlining the elaborate prose ;)**

**Thank you Blue for confirming I didn't inadvertently offend anyone :P**

**Also, this fic is being translated into Chinese by Nori0928 on AO3, so if you're curious and can read Chinese, go check it out! :)**

**Thank you for reading!**


	6. Turnabout

"Shit."

Wolfgang watches the woman make her way from the bar across the crowded dance floor. She moves effortlessly through the crowd, walking toward the stairs that lead to the second floor and ultimately to Wolfgang's office. She pauses mid-way and looks up in his direction. The window that overlooks the floor below is one-way, and she can't possibly see inside, but she smirks as if she knows he's watching and continues. "Shit," he repeats.

"What is it?" Felix stands beside Wolfgang, following his line of sight. The strobe and lasers light everything in bursts; it doesn't him long to single out what Wolfgang sees. "Holy fuck! Is that _Lila? _"

Wolfgang nods, brows drawn taught. "Yeah. Looks like."

"Jeez." They watch her in silence for several seconds, eyes narrowed. "Wonder what brings her here," Felix murmurs. "What's it been? Two years?"

"Something like that," Wolfgang says evasively. It may have been two years since Lila Facchini left Berlin, but it was not the last time he'd seen her. Still: "It's been a long time."

Felix whistles low when she reaches Sacha at the foot of the stairs. "She's up to something," he says softly, noting a sheer black minidress that reveals only a black thong underneath. "I don't see that goon Fuchs usually sends with her."

"No." Wolfgang's frown deepens. Ever since she became the second in command to Sebastian Fuchs, she rarely went anywhere unaccompanied by his bodyguard. Ridiculous, really, when Lila is more than capable of taking care of herself; Wolfgang suspects Fuchs doesn't trust his lover very much. With good reason.

Felix looks at Wolfgang with raised brows. "Think she's just here for old times?" he asks. "If she's here just to take up with you again, Fuchs is gonna be up our asses." He stares hard at Wolfgang. "We can't go back to that, Wolfie."

"Yeah. I know." It is the only reason Wolfgang hadn't told Felix about his hook-ups with Lila after she left Berlin: Felix would have exploded, and rightly so.

Wolfgang loses sight of her as she walks up the stairs. Felix does too, and they both move away from the window.

Felix clears his throat a little, eyes Wolfgang. "Want me to leave?" he asks gruffly.

Wolfgang half-sits on his desk, legs extended in front of him, arms folded across his chest. He considers Felix's question for a moment but shakes his head. "No. Stay."

Felix nods, relieved.

Wolfgang finds himself staring at the door, waiting for Lila with a feeling of ambivalence. It's been over 6 months since they last met, unplanned, during one of Wolfgang's business trips to Amsterdam. They were conveniently staying in the same hotel, picking up exactly where they always seem to leave off. He wonders why he falls into the same pattern with her when any feelings he had waned years ago, long before she left Berlin, long before she met Sebastian Fuchs.

He startles a little when she finally knocks on the door.

...

Kala wakes up at the first buzz of her cellphone. She blinks, disoriented, at a second buzz moments later. She lifts her head only to be startled by the time that flashes and fades on the screen: 3:00 AM.

Kala reaches for her phone, scrambling to sit up, half-panicked that something has happened back in Mumbai, where it is 6:30 AM and her father is already prepping, hard at work in the family restaurant.

She swipes her screen and unlocks her are no new messages from her family.

Instead, Kala stares blankly at two messages from Felix Berner.

_Hey. We have a problem. _

_Can you be Wolfie's girlfriend? _

She lets out a shocked breath. She hasn't seen or heard from Felix or Wolfgang since Lukas's party almost two weeks ago: She hasn't even seen Lukas Fischer in days. Kala wonders if Felix's messages are somehow a mistake.

She frowns but types a quick response:

_What happened? Of course I'll help if I can. _

Felix's answer is almost immediate.

_I'll explain later. Meet me at the restaurant after you get out of work today. _

She frowns, confused. "_Meet me_?" Just Felix?

_Ok._

Kala waits a second or two. When no further reply comes, she sets the phone back down on her nightstand.

Kala lies in bed, wide awake. She repeats Felix's cryptic message to herself several times. Did he mean "we have a problem" as in he and Wolfgang have a problem? or did he mean "we" as in the three of them?

She frowns, turns over possibilities in her head but can't imagine what could warrant Felix's request. Things are fine at work. She can think of no reason why Wolfgang would need her to pretend to be his girlfriend.

Kala lifts her head to check the time and groans: It's just past 3:30 AM, and she has to be at work in a few hours.

She shuts her eyes and tries to salvage the remaining two and a half hours she has before her alarm goes off.

…

Work is always busy, but this week is extraordinarily so as Kala prepares to transfer to another team.

Most of her Friday is spent double-checking statistical data and calculations, and going over analyses with Devi, who is taking over Kala's research. In the late afternoon, Kala meets with her team leader to discuss her remaining tasks and any foreseeable transition issues: The team leader expects Kala will be too busy with new work in the coming weeks to assist if a problem arises.

The meeting runs later than expected.

Kala rushes from the lab and hastily messages Felix that she is on her way. She walks quickly down the street, stopping impatiently at a curb as she waits for the light to change. It's another two blocks before she crosses to the eatery where she'd sought refuge from Lukas weeks before. This time she doesn't hesitate to walk inside, scanning the crowd quickly before her gaze settles at the back of the shop.

Felix waves to her from his small table. Kala waves back and makes her way to him, extending a hand that he accepts before drawing her into an impulsive hug. "Kala! Hello!"

"It's good to see you, too, Felix," she says warmly.

"Sit down!" He gestures to the empty seat across from him and draws it out before returning to his own chair. "Thanks for coming," he says. "How are you? Things ok at work?"

"I'm ok," she tells him. She ignores her disappointment that Wolfgang isn't with them. "Sorry I kept you waiting."

Felix shakes his head guiltily. "Nah. I'm sorry I texted so late. I didn't think about the time when I sent it; I need to remember that most people aren't awake at 3 in the morning." He seems to suddenly recollect himself. "You just got off work! You must be hungry. What do you want to eat?"

"I'm good." Kala notices the server just behind her and shakes her head. "I had a late lunch," she murmurs. Felix shrugs, asks for another beer and hands over the empty bottle on the table to the server.

"So what happened?" Kala leans forward in her seat, voice low with concern. "Why do you need me?"

"Because Lila Facchini is back," Felix says darkly.

Kala stiffens a little. "Lila?"

"Lila is Wolfgang's ex," Felix answers carefully. "Two years ago, she left Berlin to be with some guy named Fuchs. Fuchs is a big deal in Munich; Lila became his right hand, then his girlfriend. I haven't seen her since she left. But last night - or rather, this morning - she showed up at the club." He shakes his head, as if still shocked by her appearance.

"Lila acted like... typical Lila," he continues, waving a hand as if to indicate what he means. "She was all over Wolfie like nothing's changed, as if it hasn't been 2 years. She said she's in town for a few weeks and wants to pick up where they left off."

Kala lets out a breath, cheeks flushed. "I… don't see how that is any of my business," she says slowly.

The server returns with Felix's beer. Felix twirls the bottle uncomfortably and takes a drink. He lets a second or two pass, eyes her warily. "I'm gonna be straight with you," he finally says. "Lila is bad news. If Wolfie takes up with her again we're fucked - and not, like, in a _good _way. Her boss, her boyfriend... Fuchs-," Felix shakes his head, his words trailing. "Anyway, I was there when Lila showed up and started making a play for Wolfie. And I was getting nervous, so." Felix looks up at the rafters of the restaurant. "So then I asked, 'what about Kala?'"

Kala's eyes grow wide, face pales. "What?"

"Yeah. You heard right." Felix looks at her apologetically. "I said, 'what about Kala'. And Lila asked who you are, and Wolfgang said 'my girlfriend'."

Kala stares blankly at Felix, heart thuds in her chest.

"To be honest," he continues, "I was kind of surprised Wolfie went along with it, but he did. Not that we thought that kind of thing would ever stop Lila. It didn't, but Wolfie used you as an excuse to get her to leave. He told Lila he didn't want to ruin things with you." Felix steals a glance at Kala's frozen expression.

"She left more annoyed than angry," he continues, "so I'm pretty confident she doesn't believe Wolfie. And since she's here for a couple of weeks, I wouldn't put it past her to try something."

"So," Kala frowns, finally seeing where Felix is going, "you need me to show up at the club with Wolfgang? Or go with him somewhere as his girlfriend? Like he did for me?"

"Actually," murmurs Felix, eyes back up to the ceiling, "it might be a little more than that."

Kala's eyes grow larger.

"You both need to spend some time together when you're not at work," he says, taking another bracing drink of his beer. "Like you're really dating, because for sure, Lila will check you out."

Kala's brows snap together in a grimace. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just what it sounds like." Felix runs a hand through his hair. "She'll know you and Wolfgang don't see each other at all unless you actually _see _each other."

Kala expels a ragged breath. "But so what if Lila does find out?" she asks. "Why can't Wolfgang just _tell_ her he's not interested in her?"

"Well then it becomes a problem for _you, _too." Felix lets out a sigh, finishes the last sip of his bottle. "Lila said something kind of odd when Wolfgang said you're his girlfriend: She said she heard a rumor about that. And after she left, it occurred to me that we all knew the same people: Wolfie and me, Steiner, Lila. Lila knows Fischer. How the fuck would she hear a rumor about a fake relationship unless he told her?"

Kala's eyebrows raise, startled. "Lukas? Why would he bother to tell her?"

"To break up your fake relationship, of course," says Felix, as if stating the obvious. "I think Fischer casually told her Wolfgang is in a relationship with his colleague, knowing Lila will drop everything to come here and see for herself. She couldn't just let that one go."

Kala looks at Felix in disbelief.

Felix's eyes narrow in sudden thought. "When did you say you start on the new team with Lukas?"

Kala shrinks a little at the reminder. "Monday."

"So you're going to be spending a_ lot _of time with Fischer," he says absently. "I find it odd that Lila would suddenly show up out of nowhere right when you are about to be spending a lot more time with Lukas."

Kala winces. She'd almost forgotten about Lukas with all the preparations to be done. She likely hasn't seen him because their schedules were equally erratic as they prepared for the transition. But starting Monday, Felix is right: She will be working closely with Lukas for long periods of time.

She wonders hopefully if he's lost interest in her, and their work relationship can resume more professionally. But what if he hasn't? What if it can't?

"So anyway," Felix says, "once I realized there's probably a connection between Lila showing up and Fischer, I just - " Felix pretends to text on his phone. "I messaged _you. _"

Kala is overwhelmed by the turn of events. Since Lukas's party, she has deliberately avoided recalling her last few moments with Wolfgang, mortified at the memory of her behavior, baffled by frustration that in hindsight was likely exaggerated. She was relieved to put it behind her. Until early this morning.

"What does Wolfgang think?" she asks quietly.

Felix gives a huff of frustration. "He said he'd leave it up to you. That's why he's not here." Felix looks at her oddly. "I don't understand his logic. I thought you'd be more than ok with it since it helps you out, too. I mean, I know it's a couple of weeks, but it's not like you'd be together _every _moment of the day, right? I mean, how often do couples go out? I never saw my girlfriends more than a couple times a week."

Kala grimaces at that. "But were you in love with any of them?" she asks.

Felix frowns in thought. "Oh," he acknowledges.

Kala frowns. "Exactly."

"Well it's up to the both of you, how frequently you think you should be together," says Felix. "I mean, if you're willing." He clears his throat a bit. "This benefits _both _of you. And I thought you got along well enough."

"We did," she says carefully. "We do." Kala squashes the deep misgiving she feels. "Of course I'll help," she says.

"Super." Felix looks relieved. "It's too late now, but do you think you can come by the club tomorrow? Come in the afternoon, when it's not open. Then we can plan our strategy_ and _you can look like you're visiting your boyfriend."

Kala nods slowly. "Ok."

"Great!" Felix smiles at her reassuringly. "It's just for two weeks," he says. "Then you'll be in the clear, and so will we."

"Just for two weeks," she repeats, face flushed. "Ok."

**A/N: I owe so much to Halcyon_red for this one, you have no idea...Thank you!**

**And thank you all for still reading! As always, reviews are much appreciated 333**


	7. Starting Over

Kala stays to eat a light meal with Felix but turns down his offer to drive her home. She is reluctant to make him go out of his way after he admits that his next destination is nowhere near her flat.

She boards the bus and sits in a window seat near the back, alone. Few people are on at this hour: too late for those working in the area and too early for the revelers out for a good time. She's glad for the quiet since there is a lot to think about.

The first week at work after Lukas's party was bliss: Lukas stayed away, only nodding politely to her when they crossed paths. And this week, she only saw him once, in the cafeteria when they were both grabbing coffee in the afternoon. He might still stare moodily at her - Devi noticed enough to ask if they had fought - but at least Lukas made no attempt to catch her alone.

But now Kala wonders if Felix is right: if Lukas might not have given up completely; if he is responsible for the unexpected arrival of Wolfgang's ex to break up a fake relationship. She almost laughs at the irony.

Kala stares distractedly out the window as the bus lurches forward. After all the pronouncements that Wolfgang is uninterested in relationships, it is a shock to learn that he has an ex. She had guessed that his aversion stems from a traumatic childhood, but now she wonders instead if Lila Facchini is the reason for Wolfgang's antipathy.

Kala frowns sharply. There must still be some attraction, some feeling, or Lila would not have come to Berlin at the mere rumor of Wolfgang's new girlfriend. Perhaps it's merely sexual - if Kala interpreted Felix's awkward euphemisms correctly — but surely one doesn't simply keep returning to the same partner again and again unless deeper feelings are also involved?

Kala chews her lower lip, brows furrowed.

She tells herself she is only curious as she takes her phone from her purse and opens a search engine. She types the improbably intriguing name of "Lila Facchini" in the search bar, waits several seconds before a handful of hits show up on her screen. There is an article or two referencing business transactions in Munich, her name frequently tied to "_SF Unternehmen_", _SF Enterprises. _Kala clicks the tag for "images", impatient as her phone buffers for several seconds.

When the first picture appears, she releases a deep exhale. Four more photos follow in quick succession taken from two separate events. Kala scrolls through images of a stunning brunette with chestnut hair in feminine waves or pulled back into a high ponytail. Lila Facchini has a model's body in a model's wardrobe; her sloe-eyed gaze meets the camera lens with a confident smirk, as if self-aware that her beauty is the focus of the photo.

Kala feels her stomach knot. _That _is why Wolfgang is uninterested in relationships. Or at least, relationships with anyone other than Lila Facchini.

She releases a breath, tells herself she's glad she looked. There was a part of her that wondered if things could have been different: If she'd asked to see him again instead of sending him away, would he have agreed? But knowing how she compares to his ex brings a certain painful closure.

Kala settles back in her seat, glad she didn't make a fool of herself that night, after Lukas's party. She would not have liked to be on unequal footing, hoping for something more than what Wolfgang offered.

She sighs quietly. If Lila's reappearance was really Lukas's doing, it was brilliant. Kala wonders how Wolfgang can pretend to be in love with her for two weeks when Lila is near and clearly wants him.

She wonders how she can even ask that of Wolfgang.

…

_Dämonen_ is a nondescript building in a borough about 20 minutes from Kala's flat. It looks no different than the handful of nondescript buildings nearby except for an unlit neon sign of its name. Kala walks to the black double doors and tugs experimentally at the handle: The doors are locked. She notices a doorbell and presses long enough to catch someone's attention. She waits a few seconds before the door opens, and takes an involuntary step back.

The very large man looking down at her warily is neither Felix nor Wolfgang. He is older than what one expects of a bouncer, maybe in his mid-40s with salt-and-pepper hair cut close to his head; but he is muscular, and his square-jawed face is well-lined by world-weary experience. Kala notices a pointed tattoo peeking from under the collar of his shirt.

"_Ja? _"

Kala straightens her posture. "I'm here to see Felix," she says. "And Wolfgang."

He frowns at her. "They see no one," he responds. His German is accented, imperfect.

Kala frowns back, chagrined that Felix may have forgotten to tell security to expect her. "Could you please tell them that I'm here?" she asks, adding on a guess: "Yeruslan?"

His eyes light with surprise and some suspicion. "_Ja._" He pauses, considering. "Your name?" he asks.

"Kala Dandekar."

He seems convinced enough to at least let her in from the street, gesturing for her to come inside the dimly lit entry.

Yeruslan unclips his two-way radio, speaks into it in another language as Kala looks curiously at the mural behind him: devils and humans interacting in a craggy, flameless version of Hell. She doesn't have a chance to study the figures too closely when she hears a crackled response to Yeruslan, her name uttered in the middle of a sentence she doesn't otherwise understand.

"Follow me," says Yeruslan.

The club is lit well enough inside for Kala to take in the large, rectangular space. She is surprised that there is a second level with balconies that run along the entire perimeter except for a corner with the widest view of the club; that section holds a long, tinted window where the office must be. The effect makes the large dance floor look like a courtyard flanked irregularly by high tables and barstools. The walls, the booths, the flooring are black.

The place hums with the handful of people milling about, preparing the club for the evening. Yeruslan guides Kala to the back, past a coat check, a bar, bathrooms, and painted demons on bright red doors. One of the doors is ajar, a cleaning crew at work. Kala walks by too quickly to see inside.

She follows Yeruslan up a metal staircase and through a corridor with more red doors that guesses lead to the balconies. She walks the length of the club, down a narrow hallway, before Yeruslan stops and points to an inconspicuous black door that blends into the black walls.

"In there," he tells her.

"Thank you."

Yeruslan nods. He doesn't wait for Kala to knock; he turns and heads back the way he came, picking up his two-way radio to communicate with someone as he does so.

Kala watches him leave. Felix had described Yeruslan as their bouncer but also "kind of something like a bodyguard", although Felix was evasive about why they would need a bodyguard. Not for the first time, Kala thinks some things about Felix and Wolfgang and Lukas and Lila don't sound quite right, but she can't put her finger on what they could be.

She turns back to the door, listens carefully for any voices. She doesn't hear any talking inside and wonders belatedly if Felix is running late; if she'll be left to sit awkwardly with Wolfgang without the buffer of his friend between them. But maybe Wolfgang isn't there; maybe it's silent because only Felix is inside.

Kala lifts her hand to knock, but the door opens before she does so, and for a moment, she stares in wide-eyed surprise.

Wolfgang seems just as startled to see her, hand still raised in mid-knock. She takes in his slightly disheveled hair, the pale blue of his eyes, and her gaze drops involuntarily to his mouth. She flushes slightly. He is more attractive than she remembered.

"Hello," she says, hand dropping back beside her. She feels as awkward as she thought she would, her mind already racing to the memory of their last encounter.

Perhaps Wolfgang's does, too: He stares a little before he seems to recollect himself. "Hello." He lets out a breath, opens the door wider to let her in. "Sorry. I didn't hear you, although Yeruslan said he just brought you up."

"Oh." It surprises her to think that must have been Wolfgang talking on the other end of Yeruslan's radio. "That was you?" she asks, stepping inside. "What language were you speaking?"

He seems to stiffen a little as he closes the door behind her. "Russian," he says casually.

Kala nods. She is curious about this new facet to Wolfgang but refrains from asking questions, mindful that he seems defensive. She watches him furtively, intrigued, and catches herself sternly. She feels her face flame and frowns, deliberately looking around.

The office is a simple, but stylish, space; minimal, with just enough items of interest to keep it from seeming spartan. The large window she noted below is nearly the length of half a wall.

"Please." Wolfgang gestures at where they might sit: a black leather sofa on the opposite side of the window or a matching pair of chairs facing a wood and metal desk. Kala chooses one of the chairs; Wolfgang sits on the other, adjusting the seat to face her. Kala stifles the urge to move her chair farther away. It had been so easy before, admitting he is attractive without feeling self-aware. But now she feels a nervousness in his presence that makes everything difficult, hyper-focused. Kala exhales.

"Felix just messaged he'll be late." Wolfgang's expression shutters a little. "He told you what happened?"

"Yes." She watches his mouth draw into a line, his shoulders stiffen. She looks at him steadily. "He said your ex is back, and that she is probably here because she heard about us from Lukas. Do you think that's true?"

"Yes. I think so." Wolfgang eyes Kala warily. "She has no reason to be back in Berlin; she said as much."

Kala nods, brows furrow.

"I didn't think Felix should call you." Wolfgang shakes his head. He leans back against his seat, then leans forward again, restless. "I didn't think I needed to involve you at all to keep her away."

Kala catches her bottom lip, frowns at what he seems to imply. "But now?" she prompts.

Wolfgang scoffs. "She is a persistent woman," he says. "I tried talking to her last night." He gets up, paces to the window, and looks out absently at the dance floor below. "We were long overdue to have a conversation. Ever since she took up with Fuchs. She doesn't get -" He stops mid-sentence, brooding. "Anyway," he continues. "I told her I have you. She doesn't believe it."

He flushes slightly, and Kala's lips thin. She shifts in her seat to see him. "Felix thinks we need to spend time together and act like we're a couple," she says. "Do you really think that's necessary? That she'll send someone to follow us?"

Wolfgang smiles humorlessly. "Felix tends to be a little paranoid," he murmurs. "But in this case, I don't think he's wrong."

Kala's eyebrows raise. She stares hard at Wolfgang. He meets her eyes, leans against the darkened window as he folds his arms across his chest. "This is a game to her now," he says. "It doesn't matter that there are consequences for real people. She intends to win."

"Do you want her to?" Kala watches him stare back in surprise. She straightens, eyes dark with concern. "I'm grateful Felix thought of me; I'm glad he made the connection between your ex and Lukas." She twists her long hair over a shoulder, tugs absently at her curls. "But I never intended that: for you to always be on guard because of me. I should have taken care of Lukas. I _will _take care of Lukas. If you want your ex, don't let me be the reason you're not with her."

Wolfgang shakes his head midway through Kala's speech, mouth taut. "No." He says emphatically. "No. It's not just you." He seems to consider his words before he merely shrugs. "Felix and I can't be on the wrong side of Lila's partner. It wouldn't be good for our business if he thinks something's going on between Lila and me. So it's a good thing I have a girlfriend of a few months now to convince him, if he hears of this."

Kala nods slowly. She suspects there is more - _of course_ there is more - and she wants to ask Wolfgang if anything _had _gone on, even after Lila left Berlin: Because after some thought, Kala finds it difficult to believe that Wolfgang's ex would suddenly return if there really had been _nothing _after all these years.

But Kala doesn't ask. "Ok," she says instead. She chews her lip, wishes again that Felix was there to move things forward without triggering any conflicting feelings. "What should we do, then? How should we start?"

Wolfgang gives a slight huff. "I can't say I've been with anyone long enough to know what to do at this stage of a relationship," he admits. He clears his throat, side-eyes her.

Kala's brows lift at his unspoken thought. "You don't spend all day in bed," she says firmly. She catches the amused flash in his eyes and shakes her head. "No. You _don't _," she insists, although she feels heat course up her neck. "You would still go on dates. Regular dates."

She almost laughs at the dubious look he gives her. Except it suddenly occurs to her that he definitely seems to be the type to prefer being in bed. She catches her lower lip, distracted, and gives a little cough. "Should we plan a date?" she asks. "Felix will be surprised we can plan something on our own."

Wolfgang smirks. He shakes his head, walks back to his chair. "Felix will nitpick until it's _his _plan," he grumbles. "He likes to be the idea guy."

She smiles at that. "Maybe."

Wolfgang sits down again, his amusement fading. "Before we do, though." He looks away, seems to collect his thoughts before his eyes meet hers. "About that night, after the party. I've been wanting to tell you I'm sorry for it." He notices the color to her cheeks, and his face flushes. "I shouldn't have kissed you like that. I wanted you, even though I knew you wouldn't be interested in casual sex, and I shouldn't have let things get that far."

"Wolfgang-"

"I should just explain."

He pauses, taps a restless finger against his thigh. "There's too many things -" He trails off, expels a breath, starts again. "You know a little about me. My past is… messy. I've made mistakes that still follow me. It's why I'm not interested in a relationship. Any relationship. I don't know if this really explains anything, if you get it." He shrugs, smiles humorlessly. "Sex is easier."

Kala releases an exhale. She had thought they needed to discuss that night; that they needed to get over the awkwardness it created in order to get along in the next few days. Especially after she'd seen pictures of Lila.

"I get it," she finds herself saying. "I understand." She breathes deeply. "I don't know why I was so surprised that night," she says. "I think it was because you were so kind. It was easy to forget…" She feels her cheeks grow warm, recalling. "I had to apologize to you, remember? Because it was _too_ easy." She smiles ruefully.

"No. Of course. It was too easy." He watches her and his eyes soften. "I won't cross that line, Kala," he says quietly. "I don't want you to look at me like that again." He makes a gruff sound. "It was all I could think about."

Her eyes widen, curious. "How did I look at you?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "Like I was the biggest asshole alive," he says, his expression self-deprecating. "And while it wasn't the first time anyone's looked at me like that, from you…" He scoffs, leans forward. "I_ felt _like the biggest asshole alive."

Kala laughs a little, warms at his answering smile. "Because I thought you actually _were _the biggest asshole alive," she says. She grows quiet, looks at him wistfully. "But I so didn't want you to be."

Wolfgang's face grows still, eyes somber. "I know," he says. "I wish I wasn't."

"But you didn't lie to me."

"No." He shakes his head. "Never."

Kala gives a huff, emboldened perhaps by his earlier candor. "I thought about it, you know. After you left. I thought about calling you."

She doesn't shrink from the sudden flash in Wolfgang's eyes, the subtle shift of his body. "You did?"

She smiles faintly. "I did."

The look he gives her is unabashed, intense. It reminds her very much of that same night, when she had looked into his eyes and felt overwhelmed by need. Kala feels the heat steal up her throat.

"Kala," he says.

But whatever he is about to tell her is lost as the door opens.

Felix strides into the office, his demeanor agitated.

"I know I'm late," he announces, oblivious to the scene he walks in on. "But I had a feeling. A hunch. And I just saw Lila with that snake Fischer." He pauses, looks quizzically from Kala's blank stare to Wolfgang's carefully enigmatic expression. "You've accomplished nothing, have you?" he asks accusingly.

"We were just waiting for you Felix," says Wolfgang. He throws a regretful glance at Kala, who smiles back.

Felix shakes his head, takes the seat behind the desk. "Good thing I've got ideas," he says. "We gotta start right away."

**A/N: I never intended this to be a slow burn but now here we are on Chapter 7 smh...Thank you to my wonderful beta Halcyon_red for not just her usual duties but suggesting the chapter title. Thank you all for reading! Reviews are much appreciated 3**


	8. First Date

Felix had watched Lila go into a cafe and waited just long enough to catch Lukas Fischer arrive a few minutes later.

Now, Felix sits behind Wolfgang's desk, animated by his discovery. "You know that little place she likes so much in Mitte?" he asks. Wolfgang gives a slight nod. "That's where she went; she walked in with that goon that shadows her. For someone so clever, Lila is pretty predictable."

"Is that why you are late?" Kala tries to sound merely curious, but she is bothered by the idea that Felix followed Lila.

"Well yeah," he admits, giving a small shrug. "I was on my way here when I realized how close I was to this place she _always _eats at, and about the right time too." He gives a faint exhale, as if still in disbelief. "I waited maybe a few minutes, on a hunch, and she showed up." He shakes his head. "And as I was trying to decide if I should stay longer to see if Fischer shows up, he _fucking shows up. _"

Kala nods although she suspects Felix doesn't tell them everything: One glance at Wolfgang's face and she knows he thinks the same. "Okay," she says. "So we know that Lila is in touch with Lukas. What are your ideas?"

Felix looks at her gravely. "We gotta keep things simple," he says, "and believable."

Felix suggests spending time together where there's lots of other people so they don't feel so self-conscious, like a shopping mall or tourist destinations. Since Kala is still new to Berlin, it makes sense to go to these places. And since Wolfgang would never think of going to any of them otherwise, it lends some authenticity to the idea that he's interested in making his relationship with her work. With Kala's words clearly still on his mind, Felix suggests they not only spend the weekend in each other's company, but maybe also a couple of dinners or a movie during the weekday, so that they are together four days out of seven.

"That seems reasonable, yeah?" Felix looks from Kala to Wolfgang. "The two of you can figure out when, but definitely a couple of nights out after work. Just don't pick her up at the lab." Felix turns apologetically to Kala. "And you shouldn't show up here, again, either."

Kala's brows lift; Wolfgang frowns. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I've just been thinking about, you know, _later_." Felix gives a slight shrug. "I mean, okay, Kala is here now; one time up here is no big deal." He pauses just long enough for Kala to understand this is another of Felix's not-so-subtle references to Wolfgang's sexual habits. "But if Kala starts coming around, people will notice. If she _stops _coming around, people will notice. And -" Felix stares at Kala, "if Wolfie shows up at the lab to pick you up a couple of times, don't you think people are nosy enough to ask what happens when he doesn't any more?"

Kala exhales, unable to dispute Felix's logic. "You've got a point," she admits.

"Ok," Wolfgang agrees grudgingly. "So what do you suggest?"

Felix stares at Wolfgang. "What do _I _suggest?" he repeats."You're supposed to be _dating _her. Pick her up at her place. Then take her to dinner. Go to the movies. And, you know -" He gestures broadly, "act like you're having the time of your lives. Like two people in love. You gotta _sell _this. Like at Fischer's party."

_Like at Fischer's party. _

Kala's breath hitches, vivid memories of Wolfgang's hands spring unbidden to her mind. She refuses to look at him, certain he can guess exactly what she's thinking, especially since she just admitted to wanting him that night.

Kala fights down the blush that threatens to suffuse her face; she clears her throat a little. "Do you really think someone will follow us for an _entire _date?" she asks. "Maybe it's enough to just be seen together?"

Felix grimaces. "I don't know," he tells her. "But Lila doesn't believe Wolfgang, and this afternoon she had lunch with Fischer. What do you think you should do?"

Kala feels tension knot in her stomach. She nods, resigned.

"It's just two weeks," Felix says for the dozenth time. "Maybe less, if Lila is satisfied there's no hope of a reunion." He looks at Wolfgang. "I can take care of things at the club until I leave," he says, "and Yeruslan can cover next weekend."

"You're leaving?" Kala wonders if her voice sounds as alarmed as she thinks.

"Yeah." Felix gives a slight grimace. "I'm going to see my mom in Wuppertal. She's having knee surgery, and I was planning on staying with her for a week to get her settled. Longer if I need to." He shakes his head. "Shit timing with Lila and Fischer."

Wolfgang grunts a little. "Don't worry about it," he says. "We'll get rid of Lila, and the club will still be standing when you're back."

"Yeah?" Felix smiles widely. "I'll hold you to that. Meanwhile you guys need to leave here and go on your first date."

"Now?" Kala throws a startled glance at Wolfgang.

He gives an amused smirk. "Why not?" he shrugs.

"Where do you think we should go?" Kala grimaces at her flat canvas shoes and old jeans. "I'm much too casual for a date, don't you think?"

"Nah! You're fine." Felix's face lights. "Go to the Mall in Mitte! It's casual, and there's great food. Who knows, maybe you'll run into Lila."

Kala blanches at the thought, even more conscious of her attire.

They are interrupted by the two-way radio that suddenly crackles to life on the desk. Yeruslan mutters something in unintelligible Russian. Felix hands the device over, even as Wolfgang gets up from his seat to take it.

"Sorry," says Wolfgang. He grimaces apologetically at Kala. "I need to take care of something before we go. Shall I meet you downstairs?"

Kala nods. "Ok."

She watches the contemplative look that settles on Felix's face when Wolfgang leaves, the slight crease between his brows, the way the corners of his mouth tug down.

"You're worried?" It's a statement more than a question.

Felix lets out a sigh. "Maybe a little," he admits. "Wolfie doesn't say much about Lila, but that's precisely why I'm worried. If they start up again, Fuchs will definitely hear about it. And he's gonna be pissed."

Felix looks down at his hands, clenches and unclenches them to relieve his sudden tension.

Kala's lips purse. She doesn't feel as concerned as Felix about Wolfgang's relationship with Lila, although she's not sure why that is: Wolfgang certainly made no grand revelation when they talked, but she wonders if it's more than Felix has heard.

"Before you came," she says, "Wolfgang told me that he feels this is a game to her, but he knows he can't be on the wrong side of her partner." Kala gives Felix a reassuring smile. "He knows it's important. You can trust him. And me."

"Yeah?" Felix shrugs a little, smiles back.

But there is still worry behind his eyes.

…

Wolfgang slows his car in the mid afternoon traffic. Kala stares out the window: no doubt recalling the last time she was in his car, he thinks, knuckles curling around the steering wheel.

The ride to the Mall is awkward, the intimacy shared before Felix arrived, lost.

Wolfgang steals a quick glance at Kala, notices the way her fingers splay across her lap as they had when he drove to Fischer's party. She had said then that she was nervous. He wonders if she's nervous now.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

Kala turns to look at him. For a moment, he thinks she will tell him she's fine. But Kala exhales, shakes her head. "This feels so strange," she says. "I'm just realizing that we have to act like a couple- like _that _couple, at Lukas' party - for a few days. For the benefit of strangers." She shakes her head again, looks out her window. "Are we being followed?"

Wolfgang glances at his rearview mirror. "I don't know," he admits. "I don't think so."

She nods, letting out another sigh.

He looks back at her, wishes again that Kala wasn't dragged into his problems: that Felix hadn't mentioned her at all to Lila, or that he hadn't played along instead of simply telling Lila right away that they were through forever this time. Wolfgang grimaces, recalling how that direct approach didn't work last night. And now, Lila wonders if Kala is really to blame for Wolfgang's reluctance to resume an affair.

Wolfgang's grimace deepens to a scowl.

He parks his car in the garage when they arrive at the Mall. Kala unbuckles her seat belt, reaches for the door and gets out. Wolfgang takes his cigarettes and lighter from the glove compartment, tucks them into his shirt pocket before he leaves.

Kala waits for him just behind the car, her brows knitted, arms folded across her chest. She looks up at him with large, anxious eyes.

He tries to be reassuring. "This will be easy," he says. "No one asking questions. No stories to get right. Just you and me."

She laughs a little at that. "_ Not _you and me," she says. "Two people in a relationship. In love. Not us."

He ticks an eyebrow up, surprisingly irked by her response. "It _is _us," he says. "It's a version of us. But still us."

She lets out a breath at his answer, at the odd insistence in his tone. Her eyes search his face, as if she expects to find he is teasing her, and she frowns a little, puzzled, when she realizes he is not.

"Shall we?" Wolfgang holds a hand out.

Kala exhales. She puts her hand in his, their fingers twining. Wolfgang runs his thumb along her knuckles, takes in the smooth elegance of her skin in contrast to his large, rough hand. It's the first time they've touched since that disastrous night.

"Easier than the party," he repeats, voice low. "We've done this before."

She nods, swallows a little. "That's the problem, isn't it?" she asks. "That we've done this before."

She turns her head away before he can catch her expression. "Let's go," she says, tugging him forward.

The Mall is vast, full of the usual shops and some unique to the area. There are large pieces of art scattered throughout, optimally displayed in high-traffic areas. Wolfgang is surprised to learn that Kala's never been to the Mall before, even though she's been to the Brandenburg Gate and other destinations just blocks away. "We have large malls in Mumbai, too," she tells him with a tilt of her brow. He can't help the appreciative smirk he gives her in return.

In many ways, it feels a lot like the night of Fischer's party, the easy way they move through a crowd. Their fingers link loosely as they walk through the Mall, Kala sometimes half a step ahead as she leads them both through the throng of Saturday shoppers. They stop at interesting windows, huddle closer to better see the displays.

When the crowd gets too thick, Wolfgang reflexively rests his hand at the small of Kala's back. At first he feels her tense under his touch. But she relaxes quickly, even turns toward him so she can slip her arm around his waist. And then it is his turn to tense a little at the feel of her lithe body pressed against him.

Kala looks up into his eyes, aware, face flushed. "This version of us," she says boldly, "likes to be close."

He's not sure if she hears his breath hitch. "Of course," he agrees.

Kala maneuvers them to window shop at several stores in this way, arms around each other. At the escalator going up, Wolfgang stands a step behind her for no other purpose than to rest his chin at the dip of her collarbone. "Is this close enough for us?" he murmurs into her ear. She gives a stuttered exhale, and he watches with satisfaction as a vein pulses at her throat.

If someone had told him a month ago that he would be spending a precious Saturday off wandering around a shopping center, trailing beside some woman like a pussywhipped idiot, Wolfgang would have scoffed and told them they were _sumasshedshiy. Verrückt. Crazy._

But here he is, with Kala. And he doesn't mind at all, even if the circumstances are odd.

She leans a little toward the display window of a home goods store to better see a stainless steel pot set. He watches her brows furrow and her lower lip catch against her teeth; he knows she will worry that lip until she makes up her mind.

"Do you need it?" he asks.

She straightens and frowns at him. "I do," she admits. "It's a good deal, and I don't have any decent pots to cook in. But I also don't want to drag it all over the mall."

He pulls her gently away from the window and toward the glass doors. "That's what boyfriends are for," he says.

She turns startled eyes toward him, tugs back so that he stops. "Are you sure?" she asks, unconvinced. "Wolfgang, they look heavy."

His eyebrows lift. "Are you saying you don't think I can carry them?"

He looks so insulted that it takes Kala a moment to realize that he's teasing her. Her shoulders relax and a smile escapes. "You are fishing for compliments," she says accusingly. "You know I don't mean that. I just think it might be awkward to carry it all over the Mall."

He looks down at her with a slightly reproving expression. "What better way to prove my love," he says, "than to carry your packages around for you? Come on."

Kala purchases a 3-piece cooking set that makes her beam with delight. Wolfgang sighs as he takes the bag from the clerk.

They cross the domed walkway to explore the east side; Wolfgang pauses long enough at a shop window for Kala to insist they go inside. He buys a pair of black shoes not unlike the ones he already wears. Kala takes the bag from the clerk. "So I can prove my love," she tells Wolfgang, when he reaches for the parcel and she refuses to give it to him.

After two hours of wandering, Kala finds a vacant bench and sits down, Wolfgang's parcel perched carefully on her lap. He sits bedside her, her own package on the ground between his legs. He leans back against the bench, tilts his head questioningly at her.

"Are you hungry?" he asks. "Do you want to try the food hall Felix is so enthusiastic about?"

Kala shakes her head. "No." She gives an apologetic smile. "I know he said to eat in public places, but to be honest the last thing I want is to eat at the Mall."

Wolfgang nods. "Fair," he agrees. He taps at the cigarette box in his shirt pocket. "Do you mind?" he asks. He shouldn't ask at all; he knows she does. But he feels suddenly restless.

Kala gives a small shake of her head.

Wolfgang takes a cigarette from the pack, balances it against his lips as he reaches for his lighter. He cups his hand over the flame, turns away from Kala when he releases the first, satisfactory exhale.

"How long have you smoked?" she asks.

He gives a shrug. "Too long," he answers. He doesn't remember how young he was when he first tried, but certainly by the time he was 11 he was impressing Felix with smoke tricks. Wolfgang gives a soft sigh. "I don't smoke nearly as much anymore," he adds.

Kala doesn't say anything for a long moment. He stretches an arm along the back of the bench, watching her stare distractedly at people while he smokes.

"We sat like this at Lukas's party," she says abruptly. Kala looks at him quickly, face flushed.

_Ah._ "I remember," he says. He thinks about that night, about her bare back and the feel of her skin under his hand.

He shouldn't have kissed her.

Wolfgang takes a deep drag of his cigarette, recalling with excruciating detail how badly he had wanted her. He had given in to temptation, indulged in what he believed would be a chaste kiss because he suspected she would not agree to casual sex.

But a chaste kiss had been impossible once he held her.

"Wolfgang."

He's almost startled when Kala says his name. "If you don't mind," she says, "I'd like to go home."

He feels a sudden disappointment in his gut. "Already? You don't want to get something to eat first?" he asks again. He crushes his finished cigarette underfoot.

"I'm not hungry," she says, standing.

He gets up, grabs the bag with her pots, and follows her back the way they came, their hands still joined.

"We should think of where to go tomorrow." Wolfgang slides his arm around Kala as they reach a crowded part of the Mall. "Maybe I can pick you up in the morning."

"Yes," she agrees. "If there's anything open."

"The zoo is," he says with certainty.

Kala nods. "Okay," she says.

At the parking garage, they find Wolfgang's car and put their purchases in the trunk. They get inside, and Wolfgang returns his cigarette and lighter to the glove compartment. Kala gives him a considering look.

"What?" he asks.

She gives a faint smile, caught. "Nothing," she answers, buckling her seat belt.

Wolfgang pulls his car out of the parking spot and follows the signs out of the garage. He steals a glance at Kala.

"As far as first dates go, that wasn't painful," he says with a cavalier shrug.

She chuckles a little. "I've had worse," she agrees. "But my date today was very galant and proved his love by carrying a package of pans through 3 floors of a massive shopping center, while I only carried one small purchase."

Wolfgang side-eyes her. "Sounds like an idiot."

"Not at all," she smiles back. "He's just in love."

Wolfgang scoffs.

When they reach the apartment, he pulls into a spot in front of her flat. Wolfgang pushes the button to open the trunk while Kala unbuckles her seat belt.

"Do you want to come in?" she asks.

He stares for a moment, surprised. "_Ja. _Sure," he says. Kala stares back, expression enigmatic, and he gives a slight huff. "I know you're doing this so that it looks like a real date if we're being followed," he says. "But I don't think we are, and you don't need -"

His words trail. Kala leans forward, kisses him tentatively, then more firmly as he responds with a soft moan, mouth parting slightly under hers. She lifts her head, breathless. "Let's talk inside," she murmurs.

He stares after her as she gets out of the car.

**A/N: First: THANK YOU to my lovely beta, Halcyon-red, for catching the rough spots. I've been too tired to think straight :P**

**Second: I know you're not supposed to smoke in a mall, but it's Wolfgang and who's gonna tell him he can't? (Plus Berlin seems kinda lax about that kind of thing...)**

**Last: The next chapter. There will probably be lemons, but not much on this site.**

**Thank you all for your comments and kudos and mostly your patience!**


	9. Giving In

For someone who just invited a man she barely knows into her apartment, Kala feels remarkably calm.

She fishes for her house keys in her purse, her mind already rejecting that description.

Calm isn't accurate. It implies passivity, a lack of excitement, when she is practically thrumming, her thoughts racing on equal pace as her pulse.

She half-convinced herself that the feelings she experienced weeks ago were exaggerated: the attraction to Wolfgang, a product of her overheated imagination.

But despite being in a busy shopping center in the middle of Berlin, the afternoon was spent more intimately than at Lukas's party. They shared opinions on things they saw, teased each other, agreed and disagreed on observations. They wandered the Mall like other couples, hands held, bodies close. Affectionate. Maybe overly so.

Kala feels her face flush. There is an innate sensuality about Wolfgang: in the way his gaze lingers and his touch tends to slip into a caress. She can still feel his hand on her hip, his breath against her ear.

She had been dismayed when she sat beside him on the bench at the Mall, hyper-aware of his arm slung casually on the back of the bench, of his thigh pressed against hers. She could already feel the want coil in her belly.

Kala finds her apartment key, surprised that her hand is steady as she inserts it into the lock. She opens the door, leans her body against it to prop it open. She can hear Wolfgang make his way up the narrow stairs, just reaching the floor below.

Kala gives a short huff.

She brooded over Wolfgang, her reaction to him, and his abrupt dismissal, for a week. The first few nights, she vacillated between relief and regret, convinced she was right to send him away, only to change her mind the next night.

It was unexpected, how much she wanted him, how tempting it was to invite him to her bed, even knowing she would never see him again. Logically, she knew she had done the right thing.

Yet still she wondered what it would have been like to be so consumed by Wolfgang in that moment that it silences any doubt about right and wrong and leaves only them. After the night of Fischer's party, Kala thought the chance to find out was gone.

But fate - and Felix- intervened. And her increasingly rebellious inner voice asked why not?

And so... _Why not_?

Wolfgang reaches the landing of her third floor apartment carrying the shopping bag with her pots. He meets Kala's gaze, his expression deliberately light.

"Come in," she says, flushing slightly. She watches his face as he looks around and walks into the narrow hallway. He stands with his back to her, eyeing the small but neat efficiency of her pre-furnished apartment. He seems to notice everything, even taking off his shoes by the small shoe rack to his right. Kala smiles a little as she closes the door behind them.

"Thank you for carrying the pots," she says. She unbuttons the cardigan she wears and shrugs it off. "Do you mind putting them in the kitchen? It's just to the left."

"Sure." Wolfgang glances at the picture of her family on the wall as he walks by. He disappears around the corner.

Kala hangs her sweater and purse on hooks by the door. "Are you hungry at all?" she calls out, adding: "Or maybe something to drink?"

"No."

She combs her fingers quickly through her hair before she toes off her own shoes and pads softly to her kitchen.

The space is small: barely room for the refrigerator and stove and hardly any room to cook. Her dining table usually serves as her prepping station.

Wolfgang's presence seems to overwhelm it.

He leans back against the empty sink, the package of cookware on the counter beside him. He watches her approach, and his steady gaze flusters her. She pauses, clasps her restless hands behind her back.

Lila Facchini would never be so gauche.

The unexpected image of Wolfgang's ex causes Kala to frown. She takes the few steps that bring her to Wolfgang, searches his eyes for reassurance, but he looks at her evenly.

"If you kissed me - if you asked me up here - because you think we were being watched," he says, "I tried to tell you, I don't think we are." He gives a soft exhale, a slight frown on his brow. "We don't need to play games now, Kala."

Kala bites her lower lip. She shakes her head, faint color reaching her cheeks. "That's not why I asked you here," she says quietly.

Wolfgang's eyes narrow. He shifts his weight against the sink, but she can almost feel the tension in his body, in the air around them.

"Why did you?"

She licks lips that have suddenly gone dry. Her gaze drops to his mouth, to his neck: anywhere but his eyes. "I told you I thought about calling you that night, after the party. But you were long gone, and I thought it was too late. I made excuses when I simply didn't have the courage." She shrugs, catches her bottom lip in thought before she continues. "The next day it seemed unreal, how I felt. I've never reacted to anyone like that. I thought it was my imagination, maybe the champagne, maybe just the moment." She stops, self-conscious of the admission, suddenly aware of her vulnerability.

"And now?" he asks softly.

Kala looks up. His wariness seems to slip, his eyes hooded and dark. "It was none of those things, Wolfgang," she whispers. "When I'm with you, all the rules - the logic of everyday life, things that were important to me - all go away. And all I feel is how fast my heart beats whenever I'm with you."

She catches the stuttered exhale he releases, the pulse that jumps at the base of his throat.

"Kala," he murmurs. For a brief moment, his face mirrors her look of unguarded longing; his hands move to rest on the curve of her hips.

She lays tentative palms on his chest, feels his heartbeat quicken beneath her fingers. Kala tilts her head to kiss Wolfgang, but he draws back, face flushed.

"I want you," he says roughly, bluntly. "I've wanted you since the first time I saw you. But I'm not that man at the Mall. I'm the man you sent away. You understand that?" He looks at Kala with eyes that seem to burn through her. "If you do, are you sure?"

_Are you sure_?

The question rings in her head. Nothing has changed.

Kala swallows a little and his eyes catch the subtle undulation of her throat. "Yes," she says.

There is a heartbeat of hesitation, a moment when Wolfgang thinks he should move away, give them both space, convince her she was right the first time. But he is heady with the look she gives him, drunk on both their desire.

He kisses her hungrily, chases the taste of her with his mouth, with his tongue.

He thought of her, too, in the weeks since Fischer's party. He thought of her even though he seldom thinks of someone he's slept with, let alone someone he hasn't.

He remembers the curve of her spine, how it feels under his fingers. He remembers how she kisses and the sounds she makes when their tongues entwine.

Kala moans into his mouth, the low vibration curling straight to his groin. His hands slide from her hips to cup her from behind. He cants her pelvis and hardly recognizes the gutteral sound that comes from his throat when she grinds against him. He buries his face in the crook of her neck, sucks raggedly at her throat as his hand strokes down her thigh.

"Wolfgang," she breathes. She pulls away, smiles softly as she takes his hands and leads him from the kitchen.

Kala's bedroom is still bright with late afternoon sun, filtered by cream shades drawn down over the two windows that flank her neatly-made bed. Wolfgang barely notices.

He turns Kala back into his arms. They kiss slowly, languidly, as their hands separate, drift to touch each other's body. Kala sighs something he doesn't understand, her hands exploring the muscles of his back, fingers trailing down his spine until she reaches his waist. He inhales sharply as she circles forward, skims over the taut plane of his abs and along the top of his jeans.

"_Kala_."

He slides his hands under her blouse, feels the warm curve of her waist, the soft belly that flutters under his palms. He hikes the top higher, moves to stroke her breasts. She sighs her approval, shifts to remove her shirt as he does the same.

Kala nuzzles along his neck, kisses his jaw. She feels him press against her and shifts to allow Wolfgang to undo her jeans as she reaches for the buttons on his. But he moves her hand aside, slides his palm into her underwear. He cups her, and she freezes when his thumb strokes her intimately.

Kala shuts her eyes tightly, mouth pressed against Wolfgang's throat. _By the gods_.

"Good?"

She barely understands that he is asking her a question. "Yes." She clings to him as his hand curves lower. "Wolfgang."

He makes a sound, his hands shifting to take off her underwear and jeans, and lays her on the bed. He strips down to his underwear, her eyes appreciative of his muscular build, the chiseled core that "v"s into grey boxer briefs.

She half expects him to move on top of her, but instead Wolfgang lays down, props himself on his side to watch her face as his hand skims along her body, curves over her pelvis.

He takes his time touching her, his fingers tracing over sensitive flesh, stroking where he knows she finds pleasure, unconcerned, at least for now, with his own desire. He watches her face, the rise and fall of her chest, the growing tension that she tries desperately to control.

He kisses her throat, her face, murmuring words of encouragement. "Let go, Kala," he whispers, his touch, his fingers, unerring "Please." His thumb pads her sensitive center. "Let go."

Kala turns into his neck with a soft cry. She clutches him tightly as her inner muscles suddenly tremble and clench around him. Wolfgang murmurs nonsense against her hair as she shudders her release, kisses the top of her head, holds her close. He waits until he feels her trembling stop before he moves carefully, shifts them both so Kala rests her head on his chest.

She is motionless - eyes shut, chest pounding - for several seconds. The room silent except for the sound of her ragged breathing.

She catches him watching her, his expression soft, when she finally opens her eyes. Wolfgang drags an errant tendril of hair from her forehead, a smirk settling on his face. He makes no move to settle between her thighs, content to let her rest. It was not what she expected. It was so different from her past experience.

"Why did you do that?" she asks quietly. "I thought you'd want…" She trails off, not sure how to ask without offending him.

He raises an eyebrow. "Were you expecting me to fuck you and leave?" She looks at him with a guilty expression and he shakes his head, his teasing fades. "No." He gives a faint smirk at the blush that creeps across her face. "We have the rest of the night, anyway. Unless you want me to leave."

Kala's eyes grow liquid. She shakes her head, the blush pronounced. "No," she tells him, her hand curving around his waist. "Not yet." There's a look in her eyes that makes his heart beat faster.

He smirks wickedly at her.

**A/N: More than the usual amount of thanks go to my amazing beta Halcyon-red. Body parts...smh… **

**Thank you for sticking with this story! Things are more than the usual busy, but I will try not to go so long between updates! As a note, this chapter is edited from the original on AO3.**

**As always, reviews are much appreciated.**


	10. Pretending

Wolfgang isn't in bed when she wakes up.

Kala blinks, disoriented by the darkness of her room. There was still sunlight when they drifted to sleep. Now, the room is lit mostly by the filtered streetlight, casting stark shadows that highlight the dips and valleys of the empty space beside her.

Kala inhales deeply, drags herself up by her elbows to stare at the empty pillow. She had not expected that Wolfgang would be gone so soon. He had said they would have the rest of the night. Perhaps he simply changed his mind.

She bites her lip, rolls back to stare at the ceiling. She doesn't regret her decision - far from it - but she can't help the disappointment, sharper than she'd anticipated.

She stretches, elongates her body, focuses on the langor that seems to settle deep in her bones.

The sex, she thinks, was amazing.

Kala breathes out, unashamed by the admission. She didn't think it was possible to feel what she felt: to be so engrossed in the moment that nothing mattered except for Wolfgang and what he did. Or what she did. She flushes a little, catches her lower lip.

She feels relaxed. Slightly sore. Kala gives a slight huff, catching faint marks on her breasts, one on her belly. She frowns, looks closer at another mark on her inner thigh. She quirks an eyebrow, surprised, but her thoughts inevitably drift to how she received the light bruises. She breathes out, throws a hand over her eyes, still in disbelief.

She slept with Wolfgang Bogdanow.

There is a world of significance in that one fact: more than just the simple act of having sex, more than anything she can unpack or cares to think about at this moment. Maybe later, tomorrow, she can pretend to be indifferent: When they go to the zoo, she won't ask why he left so soon. Instead, she'll tell Wolfgang she had a good time, that it was fun, she thinks.

She swallows a little. _It was fun._

Kala drags the sheet around her body. She sits up, wonders vaguely what time it is. From the sounds outside, it doesn't seem very late, and she hasn't eaten yet. She tucks the sheet loosely around her, ignores the clothes still on the floor, and shuffles lazily out of her bedroom.

She pauses at the threshold to her living space, illuminated by the street-lights outside, curtains still open from the afternoon. She catches her bottom lip, brows drawn in a frown of irritation. Even in shadow, her living space is visible to the apartments across the street. The moment she leaves the hallway, she expects someone can see her as easily as she can see them, even at this moment, going about their business.

Kala glances down to assess how effectively her bedsheet covers her body before she scoffs at her modesty: She's not naked, and even if she were, this is _Berlin_. They don't seem to care much about nudity.

She hugs the bedsheet a little tighter under her arms, shores up the courage to step out of her hallway when she hears the click of her door unlocking. Kala stops, eyes wide, as Wolfgang lets himself in, hair slightly mussed, face flushed as the door shuts quietly behind him.

He comes to an abrupt halt when he sees her, partially obscured by shadows. His eyes rake over her disheveled appearance appreciatively. "Hallo."

Kala stares back. "Hallo," she answers faintly. She breathes out, unsure of her mixed reaction to his return. But she grows red at the way he looks at her with undisguised lust, even as she knows how much she wants him, too.

She blinks back the images in her head, notices for the first time that he carries two bags in his hand. Even in the dimness, the larger one is recognizable from the döner shop nearby, its faint aroma wafts slowly into the room. Her brows arch. "You brought food?" she asks.

His eyes widen a little, as if reminded. "Yeah." He walks to her dining table, sets the larger bag down. "Since I was out anyway, I thought I'd bring us back food." He holds up her key: "Sorry I had to go in your purse for this," he adds, laying it beside the bag.

Kala shrugs, nods her belated consent. "Of course," she says. She runs a hand over her hair, twists it to the side. She gives a small smile. "So you were hungry?"

Wolfgang returns the smile. He abandons the food and walks to her. He reaches for her waist, draws her to him. "Right now I'd rather eat something else."

Kala's cheeks flame. "Oh?" She marvels at how easily the words trip from his lips, how casual this must be for him. She rests her arms on his waist. "I thought you left for the night," she says, as if it had not bothered her, as if his return doesn't please her more than she cares to admit.

Wolfgang's hand slides over the curve of her ass, he moves with her as he edges them closer together. He watches her lips part on an unsteady breath.

"Fuck no," he murmurs softly. He shifts so she can feel how interested he is in staying, smirks when she releases an inadvertent moan. He presses the hand with the smaller bag close to her hip, as if to show her: "I only had the one _gummi, Süße._ I left to get more. Are you tired of me already?"

It takes her a moment to realize that he's not talking about candy. Kala's eyes flash. Her hands steal inside Wolfgang's shirt, press against his skin. He gives a sharp exhale at the contact. "Fuck no," she repeats, mouth quirking into a small smirk of her own.

Wolfgang smiles back right before he kisses her, hot, all-consuming. She sinks into it, back pressed against the wall, fingers splayed around his waist. She tilts her hips to rock against him, her hands urging him closer still.

Kala lifts her head and catches Wolfgang's lip, tugging as she pushes him away. She twists around, reverses their positions. Wolfgang stares down at her in surprise, his back against the wall. She smiles, eyes drop to the tilt of his mouth, the rough column of his throat. She stretches to nuzzle at his neck, press the length of her body against him.

"Thank you for bringing back food," she tells him politely, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "But right now, all I want is you."

She lets him drop her bedsheet to the floor, before he lifts her, carries her back to bed.

…

"You aren't coming to the club tonight, either?"

Felix sounds confused. He had expected Wolfgang to show up at the club after a suitable time, marking the end of his first "date" with Kala, although when Wolfgang didn't appear, he wasn't overly concerned. But Sunday nights at Dämonen are a tradition: a rowdier crowd that shows up to party well into Monday.

Wolfgang can almost see his friend's baffled expression. _"Ja,"_ he mutters into his cellphone. "Do you need me?"

Felix pauses only a heartbeat: "No! I'm good. It's just…," he trails off, uncertain.

Wolfgang takes a drag of his cigarette. "If you're good, I'll just catch up with you tomorrow," he says.

"Wait!" Wolfgang frowns a little, blowing a plume of smoke away from his cellphone. There is a short silence as Felix seems to weigh his next words. "You were with Kala last night, weren't you?" Felix's voice is slightly accusatory. He doesn't wait for Wolfgang to answer: "Normally I wouldn't give a shit. I mean, it's none of my business even though I gave you grief for not banging her before. But, you know, _should_ you? I mean, _now_? What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Wolfgang flicks the ashes from his cigarette while Felix talks. "Yeah, it's none of your business," he agrees. "I'll talk to you later." He hangs up before Felix can get another word in and pockets his cell phone into his jacket.

He doesn't need Felix to tell him this isn't a good idea; he knows he's probably complicating things, even if Kala is ok with the casual sex.

Wolfgang takes another drag of his cigarette. Kala had made it a point to assure him this morning that she wasn't confusing their hook-up with their fake relationship. He felt relieved of guilt when he left to go home and clean up for their next date at the zoo.

But the sex had been unbelievable. He found himself thinking about it, wanting that - wanting her - again, today, tonight.

Wolfgang shifts his footing. He stands outside of a coffee shop waiting for Kala, who is still in line. He told her he would stay outside for a quick smoke, check in with Felix since it was already late afternoon and date number 2 was already done.

Or so he told her.

He looks around carefully, eyes scanning people as they walk by.

He thought he saw one of Lila's men at the zoo.

It happened so fast Wolfgang couldn't be sure, but it was enough to remind him that Felix's worries about Lila are more often on point than not.

Wolfgang tenses as he watches a small group cross the street, relaxes again when he doesn't see the man from the zoo.

He glances back inside the coffee shop: Kala still stands in line, although she appears to be next. She catches him watching her and smiles, gives a helpless shrug. He shakes his head, but softens the action with a faint smile back.

He turns away, resumes scanning the people that walk by.

The date at the zoo, where he hasn't been in at least a dozen years, had not gone as he had expected.

Wolfgang takes another drag of his cigarette, thoughts drifting to the past two hours.

He had wandered about with Kala like yesterday at the mall - holding hands, acting ridiculously soft. He talked about the changes made since he was last there; she talked about the zoos in Mumbai. They went first to the elephants, where Kala shared their cultural importance, and told him how the elephant-headed god, Ganesha, is her favorite. Wolfgang had been fascinated by her spirituality in light of her career, topics they'd never discussed before. Kala had looked at him thoughtfully, explained that for her, science is just another language to talk about the same miracles as faith, and he'd been struck by how simple and profound her answer was. She had merely smiled back, serene and sure.

They'd made their way to the tigers, where he found himself talking about his mother: how she both hated and loved seeing them, mesmerized by their power and their captivity. He had been too young to understand all she said, but he gets it now, and even though he doesn't tell Kala everything, in a sense, she gets it too. Kala had listened to him talk, asking little questions that, together, revealed more than he realized. And when he'd finished, she'd merely squeezed his hand, her eyes bright. He'd been embarrassed, flustered.

Wolfgang crushes his cigarette underfoot, lets out a breath. He's not sure how she did it, getting him to say more than he intends. There is a quiet certainty about her; as if she holds the answers to questions he didn't know he had.

His cell phone buzzes in his jacket. Wolfgang grunts, annoyed as he reaches for the phone. He swipes at the screen to read the message that isn't from Felix, and he glowers, face flushing: _Behind you._

He turns, startled.

Lila smirks at him, eyes unwavering as she approaches from the direction of a nearby park. She is alone, dressed conservatively in an oversized sweater, black leather pants, and stiletto boots. She holds two cups of coffee, one that she offers to Wolfgang when she reaches him.

"It's black, just like your heart," she says dryly, taking a sip of the other cup she holds.

Wolfgang mutters an oath under his breath. He takes the cup, moves Lila away by her elbow after a quick glance at the shop to see Kala at the counter, placing her order.

"The fuck do you think you're doing here?" he asks bluntly. He throws the coffee into the garbage bin by the shop.

Lila frowns at the gesture, mildly offended. "I should ask you the same question, Baby," she says. She regards him with a brittle stare as she nestles her coffee between her elegant hands. She tilts her head in the direction of the shop, eyes narrowed. "Why is Wolfgang Bogdanow, rightful King of Berlin, visiting the zoo, going to coffee shops, like a... a _zoticone_?"

Wolfgang's jaw ticks. "I'm not King of anything," he says quietly. "You need to stop saying that."

She rolls her eyes, dismissive. "How long are you going to play at that, Wolfgang?" She moves closer, rests her free hand on his chest. "You weren't made to sit around like a common citizen," she says. "You were meant for greater things. The longer I'm with Fuchs the more I know it. And so I ask you again, why are you with some woman who doesn't know who you really are? Does she make you feel like you're someone you're not?" She moves her hand lower, seemingly uncaring that they stand on a public corner in the middle of the afternoon.

He grabs her hand before she reaches any lower than his waist. He remembers he is the Wolfgang in love with Kala, desperate to keep a relationship of three months. He remembers he promised Felix he was done with Lila, that he would do everything he can to keep her and her ambition for him away: It had almost cost Felix his life.

"I don't give a shit about any of the kingdoms," he says, his tone dangerously calm. "I made a deal with Dogan, and I've got no reason to back out now."

Lila's eyes narrow. She slips her hand from Wolfgang's, presses a finger against his abs. "Six months ago when you were fucking me you said you'd help."

"I said I'd help you get away from Fuchs, if that's what you want." Wolfgang's expression softens slightly. He had run into her in Amsterdam, where she had apparently been sent by Fuchs to repair relations with an ally. She had been livid, upset; telling Wolfgang that her role was reduced to whoring. And for the thousandth time she begged him to take over, step in his grandfather's shoes and take back Berlin: then she could go to him without fear of Fuchs coming after her.

He knew part of her damsel-in-distress speech was complete bullshit. He heard enough times that Lila Facchini has unfettered control over Fuchs' business; that she is the brains behind some of Fuchs' more ambitious and brazen operations. But Wolfgang also knew that Lila wanted Berlin more than she wanted Munich. And she wanted Berlin with Wolfgang.

She stares up at him now with eyes that flash defiance. "What I want is for you to take what's yours, Wolfgang," she says. Lila leans into him and kisses him roughly, quickly, pulling away before he does so. "I'll meet your girlfriend some other time," she adds, her lip curling mockingly as she turns and walks away.

Wolfgang frowns. He turns his head to see Kala coming out of the coffee shop, her expression carefully neutral.

And when he looks back, Lila is already turning around a corner, disappearing into the crowd.

**Welp, September kicked my ass and now October isn't treating me any better, but thank you so much for sticking with this story and sending encouraging words. It's really been much appreciated 💕**

**In addition to the amazing Halcyon_Red, I want to thank thank_god_for_gravity for checking my Google translate word-of-the-day: a _zoticone_ is a bumpkin. 😝 Grazie, Cuz!**

**This chapter is edited from the one on AO3.**

**As always, reviews are much appreciated!**


	11. The Aftermath

Kala sighs with satisfaction when the barista finally gives her the large hot mocha. She had waited in line forever, craving a drink she hasn't had since moving to Berlin, nostalgic for Sunday mornings in Hannover when Bettina would make them both a cup as a Sunday treat. Kala takes a tentative sip and hums her contentment. She turns, triumphant, to show her treasure to Wolfgang, but he's no longer there, watching her through the window.

Kala closes the lid, makes her way to the door, brows knitting curiously as she steps outside. She looks around; her eyes dart from one side of the street to another.

She doesn't notice him immediately: He's farther away, almost at the corner, deliberately hidden from view of the coffee shop. He is turned away, his back to her, head down.

Kala would not have seen the woman with him except her face - beautiful and animated - is partially visible over Wolfgang's shoulder. The woman looks very much like Lila Facchini.

And they are kissing.

Kala lets out a ragged exhale, startled by the hurt that streaks hot and immediate through her.

But just as quickly she shunts it aside, alarmed. _Afraid_.

She thinks deliberately about what Felix would have her do: From their vague replies, Kala suspects neither he nor Wolfgang want her to interact with Lila Facchini at all.

But if she was really Wolfgang's girlfriend, she wouldn't be simply standing around, slack-jawed and indecisive.

The door behind her opens unexpectedly and a man brushes by, mumbling a gruff "_entschuldigung_" as he exits. Kala hastily steps aside, mocha escaping from the lid of her cup. She sips off the overflow, distracted, and looks up in time to meet Wolfgang's eyes. But he turns away, watches Lila as she disappears into the crowd.

Kala's face flushes from the sting of rejection. But she schools her features, approaches Wolfgang almost cautiously. She comes to a halt when she reaches his side. He doesn't acknowledge her right away, staring in the direction Lila had gone.

Kala glances at him as she takes a careful sip of her drink. He is a million miles away from her. "So that was Lila," she says rhetorically. She tries to mask her tone to one of mild curiosity, focusing her attention on another sip of her mocha.

"Yes." Wolfgang finally turns to face her. He pauses as if to say something further but thinks better of it. "Yes," he says again, giving a small shrug. He notices the drink clutched in her hand. "You finally got it?"

"Mmhmm." Kala's eyes dart to the swath of crimson against his mouth and struggles to contain her ire. "You have her lipstick on you." Without thinking she reaches up to swipe her thumb across his bottom lip, annoyed that Wolfgang's steady gaze unnerves her. "If I was really your girlfriend," she says absently, "I would be very upset right now." She cringes internally at the tone of her voice, at the accusatory statement that she didn't intend to sound that way.

Wolfgang's eyes shutter a little. "It's not what you think," he says.

The lipstick is not gone, but at least it is barely visible. Kala's shoulders drop. "It doesn't matter what I think." She rubs her stained thumb along the sleeve of her coffee cup, stares at the muted red that smears by her hand-written name. "What I saw was Lila kissing you very publicly because she is here to break up our made-up relationship," she says. "So no matter what I think, or what she does, our relationship will survive. Still." She looks at Wolfgang evenly: "Shouldn't I act upset? That would be normal. It seems very deliberate that she would kiss you like that, here, knowing I'm near."

Wolfgang stills, his expression arrested. "Yes." He frowns at her. "Of course you would be upset." He pauses, as if the thought just occurs to him. "Would we fight?"

Kala gives a small exhale, cheeks flush. The memory of the kiss burns, even though she'd seen little of it. "I think we would," she says. "I would be angry. And hurt. I would turn around and go home."

He looks at her in faint surprise. "You would?"

Kala thinks of her visceral reaction and nods slowly. "I think I would," she says. "I would be too upset to listen to your explanation."

He stares at her for a long moment, the crease between his brows deepening before he seems to make up his mind: "Do it," he says. "Walk away from me. Do what you think you would do if we were really together. We were followed here by Lila's man. He's probably still watching."

Kala looks at him wide-eyed, almost forgetting about that possibility. "If someone is watching us fight and I leave, Lila will think she's won."

Wolfgang shakes his head, his expression enigmatic. "Not if I go after you."

Kala's lips thin. She asks, although she knows the answer: "That's not something you would do?"

He quirks a brow, eyes hard.

"No," he says curtly.

He didn't for Lila: not now, and probably not then. And he wouldn't for her. Not for real.

Kala wonders what Wolfgang would do if he knew how she truly felt, if he knew her speculation came from something closer to the truth. She can imagine those pale blue eyes directed at her, cool and indifferent.

Kala turns abruptly on her heel and walks away. She heads in the direction of the _Bahnhof Zoo _\- opposite of Lila - almost by instinct, knowing she can take a train home from there...if they were really fighting. If she was really leaving.

Kala's steps quicken, her drink spilling again from the lid. She throws it impatiently into a nearby garbage.

She feels a sense of near panic, and she is no longer acting: She wants to go home, wants to be alone, wants to marvel over her colossal stupidity in allowing her feelings to be hurt by someone who will be gone from her life in a week, maybe two. Kala weaves through the crowd of people, oblivious to her surroundings.

She is crossing the street when Wolfgang finally catches her, his hand reaching for her arm.

"_Kala._"

His face is flushed. She stares up at him blankly, lets him draw her back from the crosswalk to the corner. People stare at them. She feels her face flame as she notices the curious looks. Wolfgang ignores them, his eyes boring into hers.

"You told me to go," Kala wrests her arm away from him, breath quickening. She thrusts her shaking hands in her coat pockets, looks up at him almost defiantly. "How was that?"

He frowns back. "Too good," he says.

He gives a slight huff, the color to his cheeks receding. "You went so quickly you surprised me. You didn't hear me call you?" His eyes course over her face as she shakes her head, the crease between his brows deepening. "You even threw away your drink. I thought maybe something was wrong."

Kala doesn't answer, merely staring up at him. Wolfgang's expression softens. He sweeps an errant curl away from her face. "What now?" he asks quietly.

Kala swallows against the wave of longing, trying to think what the version of herself who is Wolfgang's girlfriend would do. "We talk. Maybe we argue a little more. Maybe I insist I don't want to be with you right now; that I want to go home."

He seems to still at her direction. "I would never make you stay with me if you didn't wish to," he says. He reaches for one of her wrists, tugging gently to free a hand from a pocket. "What if I tell you instead that I didn't know Lila was here; that she kissed me, but it's been over for a long time?" he asks, his fingers brushing against hers. "What then?"

Kala's face heats. She exhales, knowing what she would want to hear. "Then I ask you if you're sure about Lila, that you really want to be with me," she says.

"And when I tell you I do?"

She gives a small sigh. "I believe you. Of course."

He stares for a moment at their hands before he scoffs, gives a faint smirk. "Only here, in this fantasy, is it ever that simple."

There is a tone in his voice, a fleeting look that she knows she doesn't imagine. "Sometimes," she admits. His gaze settles on her and she gives a rueful smile. "A relationship isn't always easy, Wolfgang, but if you're in love with someone, you fight for it. Even if it doesn't work out in the end." Her face clouds a little. Her thoughts wander inevitably to a terrace in Mumbai and the man who once told her that. She gives a self-conscious huff.

Wolfgang doesn't seem to notice. He laces their fingers together. "I guess," he says noncommittally. He squeezes her hand. "So are we good now?" he asks. "Sufficiently made up to continue our date?"

She catches her lip, nods.

He leans in, kisses her gently. "Good show," he murmurs against her mouth.

Kala nods again. "Yes," she agrees.

Her smile doesn't reach her eyes.

…

There are five other people on the team besides herself.

Kala arrives almost ten minutes early to her first meeting and nods at the two men and one woman already there. Lukas hasn't arrived yet.

She sits at the end of the conference table next to a serious-looking man with glasses who smiles politely at her before he resumes texting on his phone. Although Lukas has not interacted with her since his party, Kala is relieved that he will not be able to sit at her other side.

She sets down her coffee beside her pad of paper and pens and settles into her seat when her phone vibrates discreetly in the pocket of her lab coat.

_All locked up. Good luck today. _

She bites her lip, relieved, before a second message comes on screen.

_See you tonight._

Kala looks up quickly, flushed and self-conscious, as if anyone knows - or cares - about her messages. She had left Wolfgang in her apartment as she rushed out the door later than her usual time, panicked that she would be late on her first day with the new team. He offered to drive her to the lab, but she had refused, mindful of Felix's warning about curious co-workers.

And so she had reluctantly left Wolfgang with her keys: asked him to make sure her door is properly locked because it doesn't always do so when it shuts. He agreed to meet her at the restaurant after work to return the keys although she suspects he thinks it was only an excuse.

Part of her worries it is.

_Thank you_, she types.

She sends the message, pockets the phone again and looks around as she drinks her coffee. The man beside her continues to message on his phone; the man and woman across from them seem to be in polite, if formal, conversion. Kala recognizes all three of their faces but isn't sure what areas they work in. She wonders what expertise they bring to the project, if their interests coincide with hers.

The man beside her gives a heavy sigh before resolutely putting aside his phone. He meets Kala's curious stare with a faintly amused shake of his head. "I am so sorry," he says sincerely. "I'm not usually so rude, but I had a bit of an emergency."

"Not at all!" Kala wonders at the soft accent in his otherwise flawless German.

"So I guess we'll be working together on this project, eh?" he says. "Hernando Fuentes."

She shakes his extended hand. "Kala Dandekar," she says. "Nice to meet you."

Whatever Hernando says next is lost to her the moment Lukas Fischer walks into the room.

Kala feels the blood drain from her face, the old dread returning when he meets her stare and gives a polite nod. He seems to hesitate for just a moment before he walks toward her.

"Hello, Kala." Lukas's smile is strained. "Good to see you again."

"You too." He looks perhaps as uncomfortable as she, and Kala wonders if he is really responsible for contacting Lila, if he knows about the zoo. From the look on his face, he seems aware that she is "still" with Wolfgang.

"I should sit down," he murmurs awkwardly.

Hernando indicates the seat next him. Lukas nods and walks past Kala.

Hernando throws her a curious look, but any further discussion is interrupted by the arrival of the research director and team leader.

Kala focuses her attention on the presentation, her interest drawn by the breadth of the project and the goals of the small team. She throws a furtive glance at Lukas once, surprised to find him genuinely engaged, his attention wholly focused on the work: He makes no additional effort to single her out, speaking to the team leader during a break.

Kala relaxes, her earlier apprehension subsiding. It is evident that Lukas has either lost his earlier interest in her or simply decided to stand down given her involvement with Wolfgang. Whatever the reason, she feels a weight lift tentatively off her shoulders.

She settles into the rest of the meeting with more confidence.

Her fake relationship accomplished what she hoped it would. She is grateful for that, even if its inevitable end will claim more than she'd bargained for.

**A/N: I seem to be consistently thanking you all for your patience. I mean it! I appreciate that you're still reading!**

**As always, thanks go to my wonderful beta Halcyon_Red, who was kind enough to do a sanity check on this update.**

**Reviews are very much appreciated!**


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